The Sheku Bayoh inquiry has been so long in the making it would be easy to forget there is a human tragedy at its heart.
It’s been seven years since the 31-year-old died in police custody in Kirkcaldy.
And Mr Bayoh’s family and their supporters have faced a long and at times difficult struggle to arrive at the opening day of the public inquiry yesterday.
The inquiry will examine the circumstances surrounding his death and will consider whether race was a factor.
It is a landmark moment in his loved ones’ fight for justice.
And it is fitting that yesterday’s opening day was devoted to the people who have shown a single-minded determination in their quest for answers.
The Sheku Bayoh they described was a “mummy’s boy”, who fled Sierra Leone for a safer life in Scotland.
A trainee gas fitter, who made friends easily and whose friends were among the hundreds of supporters gathered for a vigil outside the inquiry venue.
There were tears and sadness inside.
There will doubtless be more – and varying accounts from other witnesses – before the process is over.
But they are a reminder to all concerned that this inquiry is about a human being, who was loved, and whose family and friends need the truth if they are ever to properly grieve his loss.
