A police officer involved in the arrest of Sheku Bayoh has denied ever wanting to join the BNP. The pre-recorded testimony of Alan Paton, who has since retired from Police Scotland, was played to the inquiry into the death of Mr Bayoh, which occurred in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 2015 while he was being detained by police.
During the 20-minute recording, Mr Paton denied claims he wanted to join the BNP as a teenager, and he also denied making racist remarks to an Asian family who lived near him and using other racist language.
Mr Paton described the claims, made by his sister Karen Swan, as “not true in its entirety” and “an entire lot of made-up nonsense”. The former police officer also told the inquiry that father-of-two Mr Bayoh “uttered not one word” while he was being restrained in Hayfield Road.
