Two of the five Met Police officers who strip-searched a black schoolgirl on her period have been removed from frontline duties
- Two of the five Met Police officers involved in strip-search not on frontline duties
- Scotland Yard made admission at Hackney community meeting last night
- Black schoolgirl has launched legal action against the Metropolitan Police
- Safeguarding report said girl known as ‘Child Q’ left traumatised by the search
- The pupil told a review: ‘I was held responsible for a smell… but I’m just a child’
Scotland Yard has admitted that just two of the five Metropolitan Police officers who strip-searched a black schoolgirl on her period after she was wrongly suspected of smelling of cannabis have been removed from frontline duties.
The force’s admission at a community meeting in Hackney attended by more than 250 people last night leaves open the question of what has happened to the three others who searched the girl, known only as Child Q.
The police panel, led by Hackney’s Basic Unit commander Marcus Barnett, said that the Met has a problem with officers viewing inner London children as ‘adults’, adding that what happened to Child Q would probably not have happened to a child living in the Cotswolds.
The meeting also revealed that Mr Barnett knew about the girl being strip-searched in January 2021 – a month after the incident took place at the child’s school.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is currently investigating the shocking case.
Lawyers representing the schoolgirl’s family in proceedings against Scotland Yard, said Child Q has launched legal action to hold the institution accountable ‘to ensure this never happens again to any other child’.
The family’s lawyers accused Scotland Yard of ‘institutional racism and institutional sexism’ and called on Home Secretary Priti Patel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan to appoint someone to replace Cressida Dick who will tackle its culture.
Protesters take part in a solidarity rally for Child Q outside Hackney Town Hall
A black schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police while on her period after she was wrongly suspected of smelling of cannabis has launched legal action against Scotland Yard
What did the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review find?
Finding 1: The school was fully compliant with expected practice standards when responding to its concerns about Child Q smelling of cannabis and its subsequent search of Child Q’s coat, bag, scarf and shoes. This demonstrated good curiosity by involved staff and an alertness to potential indicators of risk.
Finding 2: The decision to strip search Child Q was insufficiently attuned to her best interests or right to privacy.
Finding 3: School staff deferred to the authority of the police on their arrival at school. They should have been more challenging to the police, seeking clarity about the actions they intended to take. All practitioners need to be mindful of their duties to uphold the best interests of children.
Finding 4: School staff had an insufficient focus on the safeguarding needs of Child Q when responding to concerns about suspected drug use.
Finding 5: The application of the law and policy governing the strip searching of children can be variable and open to interpretation.
Finding 6: The absence of any specific requirement to seek parental consent when strip searching children undermines the principles of parental responsibility and partnership working with parents to safeguard children.
Finding 7: The Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time appeared to have frustrated effective communication between school staff and the Safer Schools Officer.
Finding 8: Having considered the context of the incident, the views of those engaged in the review and the impact felt by Child Q and her family, racism (whether deliberate or not) was likely to have been an influencing factor in the decision to undertake a strip search.
The ‘traumatic’ and ‘disproportionate’ search by police took place at Child Q’s school without another adult present, and in the knowledge that she was menstruating, a safeguarding review found.
It concluded that the strip-search was unjustified and that racism ‘was likely to have been an influencing factor’.
According to the report, the impact on the secondary school pupil was ‘profound’ and the repercussions ‘obvious and ongoing’. Family members described her as changing from a ‘happy-go-lucky girl to a timid recluse that hardly speaks’, who now self-harms and needs therapy.
Mr Khan described the case as ‘shocking and deeply disturbing’ in a series of tweets last week, adding that he would be ‘following the outcome [of an investigation into the case] closely’.
Scotland Yard has apologised and said that the incident ‘should never have happened’.
In a statement issued through her lawyers, Child Q said: ‘I want to thank the thousands of people across the world of all backgrounds who have offered me support – both publicly and through messages conveyed to my legal team – following everything I’ve been through. I know I am not alone.’
Child Q’s mother said: ‘We now look to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to make sure there is an effective investigation into the officers involved so they are individually held to account and face real consequences for what they have done.
‘We expect the school to reflect on the findings of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership report and take necessary action against all members of staff involved.’
Chanel Dolcy, a solicitor specialising in police misconduct and claims against public authorities at Bhatt Murphy, said: ‘Child Q has launched civil proceedings against the Metropolitan Police and relevant school.
‘She seeks to hold both institutions to account including through cast iron commitments to ensure this never happens again to any other child.
‘The Metropolitan Police has seemed incapable of reform for generations, and it is difficult to say that will ever change. Nevertheless, this is a pivotal time for the Metropolitan Police as it awaits the appointment of a new Commissioner and so the family are calling on the Home Secretary and Mayor of London to ensure that only someone willing to declare publicly the persistence of institutional racism and institutional sexism in the Metropolitan Police is appointed.
‘The family expect the new Commissioner to include affected communities in designing a plan to rid the force of these diseases and to affect that plan as a priority.’
Florence Cole, an Education & Community Care solicitor at Just for Kids Law, added: ‘From the education aspect, there is still ongoing correspondence with the school following the initial complaint launched by Child Q and her mother in 2020; in which they seek to hold the school to account and to ensure this never happens again to any other child.
‘No child should be subjected to such an ordeal, and it is hoped that the school will reflect and consider the detrimental effects and negative impact that adultification, disproportionate sanctioning and the over policing of black children has on their emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing, particularly in light of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership report and its findings.
‘All children should feel safe in schools and parents should feel reassured that their children will be kept safe; and that the correct policies, practice, and procedures are followed.
‘This is an appalling, shocking case which illustrates wider problems in schools and communities about the treatment of black children which unfortunately is systemic; and the lack of safeguarding and the failure to recognise the ripple effects of trauma that follows, long after such an ordeal.
Protesters take part in a solidarity rally for Child Q outside Hackney Town Hall
Sadiq Khan described the case as ‘shocking and deeply disturbing’ in a series of tweets, adding that he would be ‘following the outcome [of an investigation into the case] closely’
‘As the Government sets guidance for schools, we strongly urge it to learn from the failings in this case.’
The Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, published in March, was conducted by City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) following the incident at the end of 2020.
It said police arrived at the school after being called by teachers, who said they were concerned that the teenager had drugs in her possession because she smelt of cannabis.
She was taken to the medical room and strip searched by two female officers, while teachers remained outside.
During the ordeal her intimate body parts were exposed and she was asked to take off her sanitary towel, according to the review. No drugs were found. She was then sent home by taxi, later sharing her distress with her mother.
The review found that her experiences are ‘unlikely to have been the same’ had she not been black.
It said it is highly likely that ‘adultification bias’ was a factor – where adults perceive black children as being older than they are because they see them as more ‘streetwise’.
It reads: ‘The disproportionate decision to strip search Child Q is unlikely to have been disconnected from her ethnicity and her background as a child growing up on an estate in Hackney.’
Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, deputy mayor and cabinet member for Hackney Council’s Children’s Services, and the mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville, said they were ‘appalled’ by all aspects of the review.
The police must ‘stop inexcusable behaviours and mindsets in order to properly serve all our diverse communities’, they added.
They have asked for a report in six to nine months on progress made regarding the review’s eight findings and 14 recommendations.
These include calls for the Department for Education to make more explicit reference to safeguarding in its guidance on searching, screening and confiscation, and for police guidance on strip searching children to clearly outline the need for a focus on safeguarding.
The Metropolitan Police said the IOPC was investigating, following a complaint in May 2021.
Detective Superintendent Dan Rutland of the Met’s Central East Command said: ‘We recognise that the findings of the safeguarding review reflect this incident should never have happened.
‘It is truly regrettable and on behalf of the Met Police I would like to apologise to the child concerned, her family and the wider community.’
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