Sheku Bayoh Inquiry Costs Soar to £49 Million

The ongoing investigation into the death of Sheku Bayoh has now cost over £49 million, with prosecutors alone spending more than £1 million, recent figures reveal.

The Crown Office shared its financial report as the Scottish Parliament gets ready to assess the spiraling costs of statutory inquiries.

So far, the official inquiry—set up in Edinburgh to investigate the circumstances around Mr. Bayoh’s 2015 death in Kirkcaldy—has cost £23.8 million, including legal fees for his family’s representation. The probe, examining possible racial factors in the incident, began in November 2020 following an order by then-Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf.

Between November 2019 and April 2025, the Crown Office confirmed it had recorded £1,015,005 in costs linked to the inquiry. Meanwhile, Police Scotland has spent almost £25 million supporting the process, bringing the combined total to around £49 million.

By the end of December last year, records showed the cost of Lord Bracadale’s inquiry had climbed to £23,765,467—an increase from £22,095,804 just three months earlier. Notably, this does not include separate expenditures by the Crown Office or Police Scotland.

Comparatively, the entire Edinburgh trams inquiry and the lengthy Iraq War investigation each cost around £13 million—highlighting the vast scale of the Bayoh probe.

Sheku Bayoh, 31, died after residents reported a man behaving erratically with a knife. After police restraint, he fell unconscious and later died in hospital. In 2018, prosecutors ruled no officers would face criminal charges.

Police Scotland revealed via a Freedom of Information request that Operation TARN, the name given to their internal probe, has cost the force over £24.2 million—with over £17 million of that going toward legal expenses.

Adding to developments, Mr. Bayoh’s family recently settled a civil lawsuit filed against the Chief Constable, initially seeking £1.85 million in damages.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance also announced that Lord Scott KC will lead a separate public inquiry into Police Scotland’s handling of the Emma Caldwell murder investigation.

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs affirmed Police Scotland’s full cooperation with the Bayoh inquiry, stating that the force remains committed to assisting Lord Bracadale.

In response to concerns over rising costs, Holyrood’s finance committee plans to investigate how public inquiries manage spending and ensure value for money.

Both the Crown Office and the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry team stressed their dedication to cost control, noting that the Inquiries Act 2005 requires the chair to avoid unnecessary expenses.

A Scottish Government spokesperson added that managing inquiry budgets is the responsibility of each inquiry’s chair.