Two Metropolitan Police officers have been dismissed after they conducted a humiliating strip-search of a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
A disciplinary panel found the actions of trainee Det Con Kristina Linge and PC Rafal Szmydynski amounted to gross misconduct after the girl – known as Child Q – was searched at her school in Hackney, east London, in December 2020.
The black schoolgirl, who was wrongly suspected of possessing cannabis, was on her period and forced to expose her intimate parts whilst no appropriate adult was present.
A third officer, PC Victoria Wray, was found to have committed misconduct for her role in the search and was given a final written warning.
The panel had heard that black schoolchildren were more likely to be treated as older and less vulnerable than their white peers.
However, neither age nor race was found to be a factor in the way Child Q was treated.
At the end of May, new rules were due to come into effect that would mean any police officer proven to have committed gross misconduct would be sacked.
Cdr Kevin Southworth said in a statement: “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.”
