Child Q - strip searched by Met Police - the court case

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev4k0zke24o

I'm sure many will recall this horrific case. Three officers involved are now at a misconduct tribunal and could face dismissal.

'A schoolgirl was "demeaned" and "physically violated" when she was strip-searched at school by police while on her period.
She was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis, a misconduct hearing for the three Metropolitan Police officers involved has heard.
The girl, who was 15 at the time, will not being giving evidence at the three-week south-east London tribunal, "because of the psychological effects that this strip search has had on her", the panel heard.
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.
All three officers were PCs at the time of the search which allegedly took place without an appropriate adult present in Hackney, east London on December 3 2020.'
...
'All of this happened 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, it is also alleged.'

Good. And I ask too, will criminal charges now follow?

Why were criminal charges not bought first ?

Sorry, but it seems to me that if you want to avoid ever facing a court for your behaviour, getting a police badge is just the ticket.

Imagine if I went out and punched a member of the public, but instead of being put in front of a court, my employer said to the victim "We'll hold an internal inquiry, don't worry about that."

So relieved to read the update. I wonder what their punishments will be.

It's the way you tell 'em! 😂

Well, that's a relief.

It's taken four and a half years for this misconduct hearing to come to this decision.

Why so long - it's not a criminal case with the excuses of backlogs in the criminal justice system etc

They've been sacked thanks goodness.

GOOD.

Thanks for posting OP, shocking it’s taken so long to conclude the investigation.

Does anyone know if the officers had been suspended from duty and if so if this was on full pay? Sounds like one of them somehow got promoted

Good news that two have been sacked, should have been all three. There was no justification or excuse for what they did to child Q, none at all.

I believe firmly that this was a sexual assault. Also, the school allowed this to happen so what is being done about their appalling safeguarding?

So sorry that happened to you. And the police wonder why we do not trust them.

And always knew.

"By overstepping the boundaries of appropriate searches by a fucking mile and more, the police have ensured that in many schools, the idea of calling the police for anything short of waving a firearm around in class is now out of the question because they will not have sexual assault or humiliation as a consequence in their behaviour policies. Which means that if there's a student who has been seen with a bladed item, has been reported as having one, is suspected of being in possession of significant quantities drugs for sale, stolen property or could have something about their person they intend to self harm with cannot be searched - searching was not intended as a punishment by those schools, but as a means of protection both of others and of the subject - and now those officers have shown that it's not."

This is a ridiculous overstatement. A couple of officers and a trainee acted against their training and procedures and therefore have been sacked or disciplined. That will make everyone more cautious about searching in future but it doesnt stop someone being searched if they are suspected to have a knife or are selling drugs. It does - and should - mean that the evidence will have to be considered a bit more carefully before you dash into whether a strip search is essential and if so where it should take place. An appropriate adult will also need to be present. So basically what should have been happening all along will maybe now happen. Two people have been fired, the other not because they were a trainee with 2 experienced officers. It wont restore trust in the police but it's a start.

Which really doesn't do anything to rebut the accusation that they are thick as pig shit. If anything it confirms it.

I'm glad they have been sacked but the third officer should also have gone surely?

How did this happen in this day and age with all the guidance and policies in place? It's no better than the bad old days of police brutality of the 80's except that now at least there has been disciplinary action. It doesn't help this poor girl who had to endure this abuse.

I don't give a shit about their being sacked.

They committed a crime.

People who commit crimes get prosecuted and if found guilty punished.

The signal here is that by not being prosecuted, their job was to assault children and not get caught, and that by being caught they got sacked,

In todays news:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx20x4703gpo

"We don't have a two-tiered justice system. We have one justice system, that is an independent justice system...and I think we all need to get behind it, not seek to undermine it."

So why were those who committed this criminal act not prosecuted ?

Yes. It was sexual assault of a child, and it should be treated as such.

I guess they were only obeying orders.

I remember the outcry on here at the time. It is absolutely horrendous what happened that girl. I cannot imagine how dehumanising that experience was for a child. It was simply outrageous.

Orders of the school, maybe but the school has no power to order the Police to do anything. There were not following Police orders as they failed to get the appropriate approval from a senior officer to undertake the search which they admitted to at the hearing. They then failed to document the search as per the rules, apparently they forgot or more likely knew that what they had done was not in any way, shape or form right or legal.

It's not an overstatement. Schools have stopped calling the Police for all but the most obvious, most serious threats since this first came out. Because it was intended as a legal, safe and trusted professional action that would safeguard both the subject of the search and other people, not a threat of humiliation and assault at the hands of the Police.

I wonder how far the schools culpability would be assessed in a civil action ?

Ah, if you are threatened by criticism, lash out with denial and defensive fury. That'll definitely sort the problem.