Latest news with #policemisconduct
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Black schoolgirl, 15, was 'physically violated' by Met Police officers who strip-searched her on suspicion of carrying cannabis while on her period, misconduct hearing is told
A black schoolgirl was 'physically violated' by three Met Police officers who strip-searched her after wrongly suspecting she was carrying cannabis, a misconduct hearing was told. The 15-year-old girl, known as Child Q, had arrived at the school in Hackney, East London, for a mock exam when she was taken to the medical room to be strip-searched while teachers remained outside. The hearing was told the search involved having to undress herself, including her underwear, leading to the 'exposure of her intimate parts'. This is despite the schoolgirl telling officers she was menstruating, the hearing was told. Her bag and blazer were also searched, and after this did not lead to any drugs being found, she then had her hair combed, revealing no signs of cannabis. Breaches of the Met's standards of professional behaviour amount to gross misconduct and can lead to dismissal. Elliot Gold, representing the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is bringing the case, said the search formed part of a 'no stone unturned' approach, despite it being an incident that, he argued, 'could never have justified such intrusion, namely the possible discovery of a small amount of cannabis'. Trainee Detective Constable Kristina Linge, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski all deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl. All three officers were PCs at the time of the search, which caused outrage over Child Q's treatment and led to protests outside Stoke Newington Police Station. Today, Mr Gold told the hearing the point where Child Q said she was on her period should have been the 'opportunity' for the 'officers to reconsider the necessity and proportionality of the search' but they instead told her 'we are all women here' and thereby treated Child Q as an adult rather than a child'. The incident happened in December 2020 when the school's safeguarding deputy alerted police, saying that Child Q smelled of cannabis, could potentially be bringing drugs into the school, and she might be at risk of exploitation in the community. The police went to the school after Child Q's teachers raised concerns about her smelling of cannabis that morning, just a few weeks after a similar incident. PCs Linge and Szmydynski carried out a search that exposed the girl's intimate areas, despite the act being described as 'disproportionate in all the circumstances,' according to the allegations. PCs Linge and Wray are also accused of carrying out, or allowing, the search in a manner seen as 'unjustified, inappropriate, disproportionate, humiliating and degrading.' All of this happened without authorisation, without an appropriate adult and no adequate concern being given to Child Q's age, sex, or the need to treat her as a child, it is also alleged. PCs Szmydynski and Linge are also accused of giving a misleading account of the incident afterwards. No formal record of the search was made at the time, neither in the officers' pocket notebooks nor on the standard stop-and-search form, which would typically be required for any street-level stop and search. The IOPC asked the panel to think of 'why the officers overreacted to such an extent and why their actions fell so far below what was required of them'. Mr Gold said that any suggestion by the officers that the safeguarding deputy was acting as the appropriate adult, even though she was not present during the search, should be rejected. He said: 'It was, or should have been, obvious to these officers that the safeguarding deputy could not act as the appropriate adult. 'On the officers' own accounts, the safeguarding deputy was the person who had summoned the police to the school, was Child Q's "accuser", was adamant that the officers would find cannabis on Child Q's person and, so, was not a person who could reasonably be expected to challenge the police in their actions.' Black people were more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and discrimination is a 'contributing factor' in stop and search, it was suggested. Mr Gold also told the panel 'black schoolchildren are more likely to be treated as older and less vulnerable or in need of protection and support than their white peers'. He said: 'She was treated as being older than she was, more likely to be involved in criminality, and subjected to a more intrusive search, than she would have been had she been a white schoolgirl in the same situation, arriving at school, smelling of cannabis.' Mr Gold said that sacking the officers would be 'justified' if the allegations are proved, adding: 'Their actions and omissions have resulted in Child Q suffering harm to her mental health and feeling physically violated. 'They have caused Child Q and her mother to feel demeaned and disrespected. 'They have brought discredit on the Metropolitan Police and upset race-relations yet further between the police and minority communities.' The panel heard that this 'most intrusive' form of search of a child should only be used where 'necessary and reasonable', must have authorisation from a sergeant, and involve an appropriate adult if it concerns a child. It must be recorded, and two same sex officers are needed if intimate parts will be exposed. When no drugs were found after the strip search, Child Q's hair was also scoured. He told the panel: 'Child Q is black. It is the director general's case that this kind of gross overreaction by the police - to strip search a school pupil on suspicion of something relatively minor, possession of cannabis - would not have happened to a white pupil and is, regrettably, explained by Child Q's race, whether or not the officers were consciously aware of this at the time.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Chicago City Council members to consider $62M in police misconduct settlements
The Brief A Chicago City Council committee is expected to vote on more than $62M in police misconduct settlements. If approved, the bulk of the settlement money, $48M, would go to three men who were wrongfully convicted in a deadly arson and spent decades in prison. The City Council's Finance Committee is scheduled to meet to vote on the settlements on Monday. CHICAGO - Members of the Chicago City Council will consider whether to approve a little over $62 million in settlements for multiple police misconduct cases this month. The council's Finance Committee will meet on Monday to potentially vote on the four cases, which could then be approved by the full council on Wednesday. The backstory The bulk of the money, $48 million, could be paid to three men who spent decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted in a September 1986 arson that killed two brothers. On Sept. 21, 1986, two men were killed in a fire at 2603 W. 24th Place. Investigators suspected arson, according to court documents. Months later, the men were arrested. Arthur Almendarez, John Galvan, and Francisco Nañez were all convicted in connection with the deadly arson, but claimed the convictions were based on fabricated evidence after they were coerced during their interrogations. The men claimed that police used physical torture and mental abuse to get a confession out of the men. They've all maintained their innocence in the case. A judge ruled there was no evidence aside from the signed statements connecting the men to the crime. The court cited detectives' history of coercing confessions and said the signed statements weren't enough evidence. Their convictions were overturned, and the men were released in 2022. If aldermen approve the settlement, Galvan and Almendarez would each be awarded $20 million, and Nañez would receive $8 million. What's next The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. on Monday. At that meeting, members are also expected to vote on a $15.5 million settlement with a parking meter company, ending years of legal disputes over its contentious parking meter lease agreement.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Countdown to murder: Heartbreaking final hours of sisters stabbed to death in park - and a sickening humiliation by police officers
A new TV documentary about the murder of two sisters has pieced together their final hours and their mother's grief after they died in the 'worst of circumstances'. Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were stabbed while celebrating the latter's birthday at Fryent Country Park in Wembley, North West London, in June 2020. Their killer Danyal Hussein was jailed at the Old Bailey in October 2021 aged 19 for a minimum of 35 years for savagely murdering them as part of a Satanic blood pact. They were discovered murdered by Ms Smallman's boyfriend – but, in a sickening twist, the grieving family faced a double blow when it emerged two police officers had taken selfies with their dead bodies and shared them in two WhatsApp groups. Metropolitan Police constables Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were then jailed for two years and nine months in December 2021 after admitting misconduct in public office. Now, a new Sky series 'Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park' is set to air on Sunday at 9pm and has unravelled the story behind their killings and the police misconduct. A trailer features two short clips of their mother Mina Smallman speaking, as she is firstly heard saying: 'Bibaa and Nicole, my girls, they planned a picnic together.' In reference to the officers sharing photographs of the sisters, she adds: 'I've lost two of my daughters in the worst of circumstances. What on earth could be worse?' The former teacher and priest has previously said that a police call handler never got back to her after she reported her daughters as missing. She has also claimed that she thought a search was not initially launched by police because of their ethnicity. The documentary also hears from the small group of family and friends at the centre of the search to find the sisters, and insights from murder detectives in the case. Quotes in the trailer also included 'no one could have expected what was going to happen'; 'the police haven't turned up'; 'you should never be the person to find the one you love dead when you've reported them missing'; and 'it was harrowing'. The programme looks at how a group of friends had met in the park as pandemic lockdown rules began to ease, as they celebrated Ms Henry's birthday. Some members of the group gradually headed home as darkness fell, but the two sisters stayed in the park and danced into the night. They did not return home. In the early hours of June 6, 2020, Hussein had stalked his victims. He later stabbed Ms Henry eight times, before he slashed Ms Smallman 28 times as she fought back. He then dragged them into bushes where they lay undiscovered for 36 hours. On the evening of June 6, the sisters' worried loved ones reported them missing, but officers were not deployed to the park until the next day. Before they arrived, Ms Smallman's boyfriend Adam Stone found the bodies. Officers then carried out a search and identified the DNA of an unknown male from blood on the knife, bodies and surrounding scene. Then on June 30, a DNA familial link was made to Hussein's father, who had a past caution. Within an hour-and-a-half, Hussein was identified on CCTV buying knives in Asda and returning home after the murders. Police later uncovered a handwritten pledge to a demonic entity called 'King Lucifuge Rofocale' to kill six women every six months, which was signed in blood. However – in a shocking development - the women's bodies had been photographed and shared on WhatsApp by two police officers. The Old Bailey heard that Jaffer and Lewis, neither of whom was wearing forensic protection, were tasked with protecting the scene. While at the scene Jaffer took four pictures of the bodies in situ and Lewis took two, and superimposed his face on a third to create a 'selfie-style' picture. The court heard that the behaviour of the officers allowed Hussein to put forward the false defence that incriminating DNA evidence could have been contaminated. A large blue holdall recovered during a search at a refuse centre, containing bloodstained grey blankets, an unopened sparkling wine bottle, a selfie stick and LED colour changing lights The Old Bailey was also told that Hussein had embarked on a 'campaign of vengeance' against random women in a failed bid to win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot lottery prize of £321million. Before the killings, Hussein communicated with others about demons and love potions, and carried out online research about the far-right and Norse mythology. Hussein declined to give evidence in his trial, claiming he was not responsible for the killings or for writing the pact. But he was found guilty of two counts of murder and possession of a knife. Former Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick issued a public apology in 2021 on behalf of the force to the family.
