Baird Inquiry: Girl strip-searched 'unlawfully' at Bury Police Station

Dame Vera Baird KC, the former victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, released a review into the experiences of women and girls in Greater Manchester Police (GMP) custody last month.

And among the cases in the report, a girl under 16, referred to as "Scarlett", said she was attacked by a gang in 2018 and police took little action. She said she “was taken over by this gang” who turned up at her father’s house, vandalised it and stole items.

However, police said someone involved in the incident could pay for the damage and avoid prosecution, according to the report. This caused Scarlett and her father to feel negatively towards the police.

In 2019, Scarlett went missing and was raped by an adult. She gave a graphic account to the police of multiple rapes and other abuses by them.

The police started to take a statement on video, but Scarlett says she did not feel believed and it was never finished.

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Scarlett says that she was treated as a "grass" for reporting the adult and there were frightening visits at night from men.

A friend introduced Scarlett to another adult, who reportedly groomed her.

Scarlett’s father asked the police to get her back from the adult, but they did not succeed.

Once the police returned her home when she was found in the company of two older men, but no action was taken against them.

She described frequently being driven round to hotels to take drugs and have sex and that there were often cash and weapons in the vehicles.

By that point, Scarlett was well known to GMP as she often went missing from home and was said to be being abused and trafficked.

She also said she felt that the police had failed to protect her from her traffickers.

In August 2019, a car Scarlett and two other girls were in was robbed.

Although the girls ran away, they were suspected of being complicit in the robbery and were all arrested. Scarlett was then taken to Bury Police Station.

She was detained for more than 24 hours and was not given medication for a condition she suffers from, and was in a disturbed state in the cell.

She was strip-searched an hour after she arrived and was searched in a room close to the custody desk with a glass door meaning anyone could see her, the report said.

Read more: ‘Majority’ of cops criticised in Baird review still work for GMP

Officers told Scarlett that removing her clothing was necessary because she had hidden an e-cigarette from the police on some other occasion.

She was not provided with an appropriate adult, and was wrongly told that if she objected, she would face a criminal charge.

Two women police officers told her to take her clothes off.

She kept her bra and pants on but had to lift the bra so that any e-cigarette would fall out and officers put their fingers between her toes. Nothing was found.

She was kept in custody to continue questioning and the first call for Scarlett’s father to attend was not made until 12 hours after her arrest.

When her father arrived, they asked the custody sergeant when the solicitor was coming and learned that Scarlett had refused a solicitor several hours before.

Her father asked for a solicitor and said they would return as soon as the legal representative was on their way.

They also asked for her to be fed and to have medical attention, since she has some psychological problems.

Scarlett says that the custody sergeant didn’t like her father and said: “Get her back in her f****** cell now” as soon as her father left.

The inquiry’s outcome said that the decision to detain her further in August 2019 was contrary to Scarlett’s interests, and pointless since she gave a "no comment" interview and was released the following day.

CCTV of the car robbery incident showed all three young girls running away looking terrified, the report said.

Read more: Review into how GMP treats women and girls in custody delayed again

The report said police should have contacted the appropriate adult earlier to tell them that she had refused a solicitor.

This is because refusing a solicitor is not a decision a child can take.

The report said: “Scarlett is absolutely clear about the details of the strip search in August 2019 and the traumatic effect it had on her.

“I have no doubt that the strip search happened and was done unlawfully, without an appropriate adult.

“No reason was given for it. Scarlett should not have been visible, potentially to men, when she was in her underwear and it creates an impression of all-powerful police people, hidden from public view.”

Dame Vera Baird (Image: PA)

Scarlett was taken back to Bury Police Station after being arrested again in December 2022 and at the time she was on her period and was stressed about keeping clean, the report said.

She rang the cell buzzer to ask for a tampon but there was no response for what felt like a long time.

She became very stressed and started throwing water around the cell and some of it splashed the officer who finally brought her a tampon.

On being splashed, the officer threw the tampon at Scarlett’s head and called her a “tramp” and a “dirty b****”.

The impact of her treatment made her feel deeply humiliated by the strip search as well as having to beg for a tampon only for it to be thrown at her head.

The inquiry said they will be making recommendations saying: “I will make recommendations about strictly limiting and regulating the use of strip searching by GMP, particularly for women and girls who have already been traumatised by abuse.

“The failure to provide Scarlett with a tampon when she had rung the cell buzzer repeatedly during her stay in custody in December 2022 resembles the experiences of several others in the inquiry.

“GMP has plans for a separate custody area for young people. I applaud that.

“I hope GMP will also recruit a separate cohort of youth-specialist custody officers and staff, so that troubled young detainees can have one-to-one attention tailored to their needs during their time in custody.”

GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson has apologised for the findings in the report, and said the force would fully implement the recommendations from Dame Vera.