Two officers sacked over strip-search of schoolgirl

Two Metropolitan Police officers have been dismissed over the strip search of a 15-year-old Black schoolgirl, a disciplinary hearing has found.

- TARA COBHAM

The teenager, known as Child Q, was forced to expose intimate parts of her body in a "traumatic" police search at a school in Hackney, east London, in 2020, after she was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis.

Following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police disciplinary panel found that the decision to perform a strip-search of the child was "disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary", which was humiliating for the child and made her feel degraded.

The actions of trainee detective constable Kristina Linge and PC Rafal Szymdynski amounted to gross misconduct, the tribunal sitting in southeast London ruled yesterday at the conclusion of a four-week hearing. London It was confirmed that both officers had been dismissed without notice. A third officer involved, PC Victoria Wray, who was found to have committed misconduct, had her role in the incident was given a final written warning.

Child Q felt "demeaned" and "physically violated" and did not give evidence at the hearing, because of the psychological effects that the strip-search has had on her, the panel heard.

In response to this ruling, Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, affirmed that the incident did amount to gross misconduct and said in the post on X/Twitter: "There is no reason for strip-searches in our schools and they should be banned."

The strip-search of Child Q sparked protests outside Stoke Newington police station (PA)