Sheku Bayoh death: Police officer who ‘feared for her life’ during struggle too ill to stand trial

A police officer said to have been badly hurt and who “feared for her life” in the incident that led to the death of Fife man Sheku Bayoh is “too unwell to stand trial” on data protection charges, a court has heard.

Nicole Short was due to appear for trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court next month accused of illegally accessing information on the police computer system.

PC Short was involved in the struggle that led to the death in custody of father-of-two Sheku in Kirkcaldy’s Hayfield Road on May 3.

Police Federation bosses say she suffered “significant” injuries during the incident that led to the 31-year-old’s death.

A pre-trial hearing was due to be held next week in the officer’s unrelated case, in which she faces three data protection charges.

However, in a last-minute switch, laywers acting on her behalf had the case “accelarated” to Friday with the agreement of prosecutors.

See Saturday’s Courier for more on this story.