THE family of a Newport man who died after being restrained by police still have questions, one year on from his death.

On February 17, 2021, the lives of the Bashir family were turned upside-down when Mouayed, 29, died after Gwent Police officers arrived at the family home in Maesglas Crescent.

Mr Bashir’s parents were concerned about their son who was having a mental health episode and called the emergency services for an ambulance - but police officers turned up.

Mr Bashir had been facing deportation after getting in trouble with the police and just three weeks before his death, had been stabbed in the leg.

In a BBC documentary, Mr Bashir’s brother Mohannad explained how his sibling was destroying his bed and that their parents tried to tell the police about this wound while they were restraining Mouayed.

“My dad was trying to open the door to see what was happening and there was just silence," he said. "That’s when the police were going back and for asking for the second ambulance.

“My dad – the last time he looked at Mouayed was when he was struggling for life, the last few breaths – and then he knew that was it.”

Younger brother Mohamed arrived at the family home following a call from his father to see 12 police cars in the street. A post-mortem was unable to establish a cause of death.

Following Mouayed’s death, his family have been campaigning for justice and raising awareness. The day after his death, hundreds of people – led by Mohamed – marched on Gwent Police’s Newport station.

On Friday, February 11, almost a year after Mouayed’s death, the Bashir family were finally able to watch the bodycam footage from the morning - and were left with more questions.

Mohannad said: “It’s mad they took a year.

“In a way, for me and the rest of the family, it answers some questions. We’re not left imagining what happened.

“So we got some answers but it also opened up a tin of worms.

“It was heavy. It was heart-breaking.”

He continued that, while they managed to get some answers, there are now more questions the family want answered.

The question of why police attended the property first and why the ambulance was so late are two of the main questions the family want to find out the answers for. Mohannad also wants to know why the body cam footage they witnessed was pixelated.

“The anonymity clause for police and ambulance should be challenged and dropped so the coroner, the legal team and witness experts can do their job and most importantly, for the jury to make an informed decision,” he said.

On Saturday, February 12, around 100 people joined Mohannad, Mohamed and their parents in a march and vigil in memory of Mouayed to mark the first anniversary of his death.

The family are still awaiting the outcome of an IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) investigation and for the inquest into Mouayed’s death to take place. This is currently scheduled for July 11-15.