Gross misconduct proven for two officers in strip search of Child Q at school

At the conclusion of a four-week misconduct hearing, a police disciplinary panel found that the decision to perform a strip search of the child – known as Child Q – was “disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary”, which was “humiliating for the child and made her feel degraded”.

Trainee Detective Constable (T/DC) Kristina Linge and PC Rafal Szmydynski were found to have breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to duties and responsibilities, authority, respect and courtesy; orders and instructions, and discreditable conduct.

The panel, chaired by MPS Commander Jason Prins, also found that officers failed to ensure that an appropriate adult was present during the search, failed to obtain senior officer authorisation prior to conducting the strip search and failed to provide the child with a copy of the search record, all in breach of training and police policy. The panel found that the officers did not respect her rights as a child and failed to provide her with proper protection.

The panel found the actions of a third officer, PC Victoria Wray, amounted to misconduct for not considering whether the search was disproportionate and for not establishing whether authorisation had been given to carry out the search. She was found to have breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to duties and responsibilities, authority, respect and courtesy; and orders and instructions.

The hearing did not find that the officers were influenced by Child Q’s race, nor that was she subject to adultification.

All three officers were attached to the Central East Command Unit, which covers Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

The misconduct hearing followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after the MPS voluntarily referred the matter in May 2021 following complaints received.

Commander Kevin Southworth said: “The experience of Child Q should never have happened and was truly regrettable.

“We have sincerely apologised to Child Q since this incident happened. Again, I am deeply sorry to Child Q and her family for the trauma that we caused her, and the damage this incident caused to the trust and confidence Black communities across London have in our officers.

“While the officers involved did not act correctly, we acknowledge there were organisational failings. Training to our officers around strip search and the type of search carried out on Child Q was inadequate, and our oversight of the power was also severely lacking.

“This left officers, often young in service or junior in rank, making difficult decisions in complex situations with little information, support or clear resources to help their decision-making.

“What happened to Child Q was a catalyst for change both for the Met and for policing nationally.

“While we should not have needed an incident such as Child Q to check our approach, it has absolutely led us to improving our processes and significantly reducing the number of these types of searches carried out.

“It’s crucial we get this right to ensure the impact on young people is minimised as far as possible.

“Sadly, we know there are children in London being exploited to carry drugs and weapons for others as well as involved in criminality, so these types of searches have to remain within police powers. The work we have done since Child Q means we now have the right safeguards in place.”

The search of Child Q took place on Thursday, December 3, 2020, when police were called to a Hackney school. Staff were concerned that a 15-year-old girl smelled strongly of cannabis and may have been in possession of drugs.

Two female officers conducted a more thorough search of the girl, that exposed intimate parts, in the medical room at the school.

No drugs were found.

IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “Our sympathies remain with the young woman, who was a child at the time, and her family. It’s important to acknowledge that at the heart of this case was a child, in a vulnerable position, who officers failed to protect and unjustifiably subjected to a strip search. We know this incident has had a significant and long-lasting impact on her wellbeing. This case also led to widespread public concern and we have heard directly from a range of community stakeholders about the impact that this incident has had on trust and confidence in policing.

“Their decision to strip search a 15-year-old at school on suspicion of a small amount of cannabis was completely disproportionate. They failed to follow the policies that exist to ensure that children in these situations have appropriate protective measures in place.”

As a result of this investigation, and others it carried out around the same time involving police strip searches of children, the IOPC issued a number of nationwide learning recommendations, including a review of stop and search authorised professional practice, which is currently being carried out by the College of Policing. This followed previous recommendations made to the MPS, which it accepted, concerning strip searches of children in 2022.

“We also made recommendations to the Home Office to amend strip search laws to improve child safeguarding measures, including introducing a mandatory safeguarding referral for any child subject to a search exposing intimate parts,” the IOPC said.

Ms Rowe added: “We have been continuing to liaise with the Home Office and have given our views on proposed amendments to strengthen legislation. We are pleased that this is being progressed and look forward to the law being changed so that children are better safeguarded and protected.”

The MPS said significant progress has been made since this case ensuring the safeguarding of every child who is searched is “an absolute priority”.

Every strip search or more thorough search where intimate parts are exposed (an ‘MTIP search’ outside custody as carried out on Child Q) requires authorisation by a local officer of inspector rank. That inspector is also responsible for the administration of the search, including recording the rationale, and a mandatory safeguarding referral to relevant authorities. This has been cemented in the MPS Children’s Strategy, published in September 2024.

The force has issued guidance to every frontline officer across the MPS on the correct process, including the requirement for an appropriate adult to be present during the strip search or MTIP search of a child.

“We have linked in with policing nationally to share areas of learning from Child Q’s incident and ensure forces across the country are aligned,” the MPS said.

“Recognising the wider community concerns that this case has raised regardless of today’s outcome, the Met is currently training more than 20,000 frontline officers and staff as part of a New Met for London around the risk of adultification and how to ensure a child-first approach in every instance.

“We continue to listen to communities and partners on what more we need to do around our processes. Hackney has an active community-led scrutiny panel which scrutinises the use of police powers across the borough.

“We continue to work closely in partnership with schools across London to keep children safe and prevent and detect crime.

“Following Child Q we reviewed all strip searches and MTIP searches across the Met and made a number of voluntary referrals to the IOPC. In a number of those cases the IOPC found officers acted correctly, in others we have progressed disciplinary matters and learning.”