Latest news with #PCWray
BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Child Q told she ‘might be arrested' during strip-search incident
A black schoolgirl who was strip-searched by Metropolitan Police officers was told she "might be arrested" if she refused to comply, a misconduct panel has girl, known as Child Q, was strip-searched at her school by officers in Hackney, east London, on 3 December 2020 after her teachers wrongly suspected her of carrying involved the removal of the 15-year-old's clothing including underwear, her bending over and having to expose intimate parts of her body while she was menstruating, the panel has Det Con Kristina Linge, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski, who were all constables at the time, deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl. 'Frightened?' On Thursday, Det Con Linge, who conducted the strip-search alongside PC Wray, told the misconduct panel in south-east London she informed Child Q she "might be arrested" when the girl asked what could happen if she refused to be searched - but claimed there had been "no threat of arrest".Elliot Gold, for the Independent Office for Police Conduct, asked: "Will you accept you were giving Child Q the option of being strip-searched or arrested?" "There were no options given like that," the officer replied."Do you accept that saying that to a 15-year-old might make them feel frightened?" Mr Gold said."Yes," Det Con Linge panel heard that when asked previously what the officer had proposed to do if she found cannabis on Child Q, Det Con Linge had answered: "As per legislation, a juvenile found in possession must be arrested and brought to custody."Det Con Linge previously said Child Q had consented to the search, but admitted under cross-examination by Mr Gold that this was not accurate. Det Con Linge joined the Met Police in 2018 and was still in her probationary period when the search took officer confirmed she had completed equality training, including on unconscious bias and discriminatory stereotypes, and said she was aware of stereotypes relating to black told the hearing she did not "see the relevance" of the fact Child Q was being questioned by two white police Gold asked whether she would accept that "a stereotype of black people is they may more likely be stopped and searched" and if she would accept that they are more likely to be "in receipt of use of force by police".Det Con Linge replied "no" to both 46-year-old agreed there was no adult present in the room where the search happened who could have offered the child advice, assisted her in communication with police or ensured her rights were Con Linge also denied she "did not recognise Child Q as a child" and was, in effect, "treating her as older than she was".The hearing continues.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Child Q: Met Police officer accepts failures in duty
A police officer accused of carrying out an unjustified strip-search on a 15-year-old black girl at an east London school has said she accepts she failed in her duties and the search should never have girl, known as Child Q, was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis and forced to expose her intimate parts at her school in Hackney in December drugs were found and a further search of her hair was also carried out by officers which led to the same Det Con Kristina Linge, one of the female officers who carried out the strip-search, told a gross misconduct hearing she had "absolutely" acted in good faith but accepted causing upset, for which she apologised. 'Avoid embarrassment' When asked if she would have done anything differently had Child Q been white, 46-year-old Det Con Linge answered "no".Two other officers, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski, are also accused of breaching professional police standards after allegedly being involved in an "unjustified", "disproportionate" and "demeaning" three officers deny gross admitting a number failures that day, Det Con Linge told the panel she had tried to make Child Q "as comfortable as possible"."I understood that she is a juvenile, I took all the precautions to avoid embarrassment."Det Con Linge joined the Met Police in 2018 and was still in her probationary period when the search took told the panel in south-east London that Child Q "did want her mum to be called or informed about the search" and that the school's deputy safeguarding manager acted as the appropriate adult, standing outside in the corridor while the search took Con Linge also said she thought police training on all levels of searches was not asked about conversations with staff at the school, after they failed to find drugs on the teenager, Det Con Linge said the head teacher "was adamant that the school girl had drugs and [was] compliant with the girl to be searched".The hearing continues.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Child Q: Met Police PC questions training for strip-searches
A Metropolitan police officer has told a misconduct panel that police training on conducting strip-searches in schools was "insufficient".Det Con Kristina Linge, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski all deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl known as Child Q in December 15-year-old was strip-searched at school by officers in Hackney, east London after she was wrongly suspected of carrying Rajon Rahman, who drove PC Wray to the school and remained outside the medical room while the girl was searched, told the independent panel on Tuesday that strip-searches were "covered very briefly" during training. PC Rahman said: "It was not gone into detail about it. There was mention of it, that it existed.""What I can say is the training or the learning in Hendon around that was insufficient in my opinion."The police training college for the Met is located in Hendon, north Rahman said that before the incident he had not attended a search at school before and had only been involved in "normal" searches, meaning of individuals on the street, and searches of a person in custody. The panel, being held in south-east London over three weeks, previously heard the girl was left feeling "demeaned" and "physically violated" by the is alleged that the strip search was carried out without authorisation, in the absence of an appropriate adult, and with no adequate concern being given to Child Q's age, sex, or the need to treat her as a child, and that the child's race was an effective Yard has previously apologised over the misconduct hearing continues.
