Officers who strip-searched black girl at school face sack

Telegraph

4 hours ago

Two Metropolitan Police officers who carried out a strip search on a black schoolgirl have been sacked after they were found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel.
The girl, known only as Child Q, was forced to undergo an intimate search while on her period, after police attending her school in east London wrongly suspected her of carrying cannabis.
She had arrived at school on Dec 3 2020 to take a mock exam when she was stopped by the officers and told she would be arrested if she did not comply.
Officers failed to inform her mother or ask an appropriate adult to be present before removing items of the girl's underwear and forcing her to bend over for the search.
When no drugs were found during the strip search, her hair was also scoured.
A disciplinary panel found the actions of the three female officers to be 'disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary', and had been ' humiliating for the child and made her feel degraded'.
But they concluded race had not been a factor in the way Child Q was treated or that the teenager had been 'adultified'.
Trainee detective Kristina Linge and constable Rafal Szmydynski have now been dismissed after they were found to have committed gross misconduct, while their colleague, constable Victoria Wray had a misconduct charge against her proven.
'Truly regrettable'
Pc Szmydynski was 39 and had more than 13 years policing experience at the time of the search, after becoming a police community support officer in 2007 and a constable in November 2014.
Pc Linge was 41 and had joined the force in August 2018.
Pc Wray was a 24-year-old probationary officer at the time of the search. The university graduate had jobs in college auditing and with cancer research before she joined the force.
Following the panel's findings, Commander Kevin Southworth from Scotland Yard, said: 'The experience of Child Q should never have happened and was truly regrettable.
'We have sincerely apologised to Child Q since this incident happened. Again, I am deeply sorry to Child Q and her family for the trauma that we caused her, and the damage this incident caused to the trust and confidence black communities across London have in our officers.
He said there had been organisational failings, and training around strip searches had been inadequate.
He added: 'What happened to Child Q was a catalyst for change both for the Met and for policing nationally.'
'Completely disproportionate'
Police were called to the school in Hackney by staff who claimed the girl smelled strongly of cannabis and may have been in possession of drugs.
After an initial search two female officers conducted a more intimate examination in a medical room at the school.
No drugs were found and the Met voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in May 2021.
Amanda Rowe, the IOPC director, said the officers had failed to protect a child in a vulnerable position.
She went on: 'Their decision to strip search a 15-year-old at school on suspicion of a small amount of cannabis was completely disproportionate. They failed to follow the policies that exist to ensure that children in these situations have appropriate protective measures in place.'