Hundreds gathered outside Stoke Newington Police Station
(Picture: Barney Davis)Senior police officers were booed and told to resign by angry protesters gathering in support of a black 15-year-old girl who was subjected to a “ traumatic” strip-search at her school.
Hundreds of activists chanted “We do not consent” and “Under attack, we fight back” as officers watched on outside Stoke Newington Police Station in east London.
Minor skirmishes broke out amongst the protesters over whether to let the borough commander DCS Marcus Barnett, who is facing calls for his own resignation, speak to the crowds gathered outside the borough’s headquarters.
He was invited to speak and stepped towards the megaphone but was drowned out by boos and pelted with rubbish thrown by one of the protesters.
The borough commander was swiftly escorted away by other officers as another female speaker - claiming to have suffered racial and sexual discrimination whilst working as a police officer - grabbed the megaphone away from him.
Police borough commander for Hackney is here - comes to take the mic after an invitation from one speaker. Another - a former police officer - takes the mic and tells the commander he's not welcome. Walks away to boos pic.twitter.com/OfL70Jp1TO
— Greg Barradale (@GregBarradale) March 18, 2022
Moments after another speaker claiming to be in touch with the child’s legal team told the crowd that the teacher who had called police on her after smelling a “cannabis- like smell” had been sacked.
The school has not been named in line with her family’s wishes in protecting the teenager’s identity.
A safeguarding report found that the “traumatic” search by Metropolitan Police officers at the end of 2020 took place at the girl’s school without another adult present, and in the knowledge that she was menstruating.
It said that racism “was likely to have been an influencing factor” in the decision to carry out the search on the girl, referred to as Child Q in the report.
In a statement, the 15-year-old, also known as Child Q, announced she is suing the Metropolitan Police and also taking civil action against her school.
Speaking through her lawyers from the law firm Bhatt Murphy, the girl said she wanted “cast-iron commitments to ensure this never happens again”.
She 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.”
Mother-of-one Chanda Chileshe, 23, was with her partner Gabriel Chileshe, 27 at the protest with her little sister and daughter.
She said: “This is a way of life for us to be subject to this abuse.
“My baby sister was asking ‘what is a protest? I said it is something where we all come together and make a change happen.”
Mrs Chileshe said she burst into tears when she read the Child Q report with her only daughter about to enter Hackney’s education system.
She added: “The poor girl shouldn’t have to be going to school thinking what is going to happen to me?
“I tear up even talking about it now.
“It’s a big breach of trust. This shouldn’t be happening in a multi-cultural school. It’s not acceptable. “
Her partner Gabriel added: “I want to trust the system if I’m taking my child to school and then going to work.
“If anything happens or police turn up an appropriate adult has to be present.
“The headteacher needs to be held responsible. It’s not the end of the world for the staff but for that child it could affect her for the rest of the life. It’s going to be so hard to deal with.
“We are here to support her, we live here and know what goes on.”
MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott, alleged 23 of 25 children strip-searched in the last year in Hackney and Tower Hamlets were black.
Ms Abbott told crowds.: “Here were are confronted with the brutality of Hackney Police officers again”.
Hackney councillors signed an open letter demanding the resignation of the borough commander after she was strip-searched by two female police officers on the school premises, with no appropriate adult present to support her as required by law.
In their letter of no confidence, they wrote: “Unfortunately, the traumatic case of Child Q and the abuse she suffered at the hands of the police is sadly not an isolated one, rather it is a tangible manifestation of all that is wrong with policing in our borough and the systemic discrimination many of our residents are subject to.
“Past apologies from the police are insufficient. Historically they have worked only to frame cases as isolated incidents without recognising the wider implications in respect of the many others subject to the same circumstances.
“The time has long past for cultural and systemic change that will result in a local force which is able to police our borough without prejudice.
“The ongoing failure to remedy what can only be deemed entrenched institutional racism, discrimination, and misogyny, falls squarely at your door.
“And, with all sincerity, we no longer see you occupying the role of Borough Commander as a tenable option for our borough and call for your resignation.”
The Met did apologise for the search on Wednesday with Det Sup Dan Rutland stating: “We recognise that the findings of the safeguarding review reflect that 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.”
Commander Dr Alison Heydari of the Met’s Frontline Policing said on Friday: “While we await the findings of the IOPC investigation, we have already taken action to ensure that our officers and staff have a refreshed understanding of the policy for conducting a ‘further search’ and advice around dealing with schools, ensuring that children are treated as children.
“Alongside this, local officers have been briefed on the incident and are alive to community concerns. The report and its recommendations have been shared with our Specialist Crime Review Group and our Continuous Policing Improvement Command to ensure that all opportunities for wider learning are acted on immediately.”
