A mother’s complaint she was unlawfully strip-searched by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) will be investigated by the police watchdog.
It follows a “lonely, exhausting and distressing” battle by Dannika Stewart, who was featured in a Sky News investigation after she was arrested and allegedly forced to strip at Pendleton Police Station in October 2022.
Ms Stewart claimed she was being punished for complaining about police failures over a crime she had reported. She was asked to come to the police station and on arriving was told the man she’d accused had made an accusation against her of blackmail.
She told Sky News she was arrested and told to strip naked.
She said: “I took my tracksuit bottoms off, which I knew they were going to take away from me anyway. I took my leggings off and then took my knickers off and I’m just sat there naked.”
She said she was left naked while officers walked in and out of the cell.
“It’s all about power,” she said. “Because when I left the police station that day the sergeant on the desk said, ‘you need to drop all your complaints against the police’.”
Our investigation into the treatment of several women prompted Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to call an inquiry into the custody practices of GMP which was conducted by Dame Vera Baird.
Dame Vera’s report into allegations by several women found officers were “using their power unwisely, unnecessarily, and sometimes unlawfully”.
Read more: What has Greater Manchester Police learned from the Baird Review?
Turned ‘from a victim into a suspect’
After publication she told Sky News “based on almost nothing, GMP turned Ms Stewart from a victim into a suspect”.
Dame Vera said Ms Stewart remained on bail with the threat of being charged with blackmail for months without any apparent evidence to support the allegations against her.
She added: “I think she was, in truth, bullied. The strip search is denied, but she is so clear and so humiliated when she repeats what happened that I’m inclined very much to believe her.”
Ms Stewart described this period on bail as “very lonely, exhausting, empty and distressing”.
She said: “It was hard for my mind to consider anything alternative every day over and over, wondering if I was about to go to jail for something I didn’t do. I constantly thought of potential solutions to free myself from the nightmare the police projected onto me. My brain never went offline at night, and the longer it has gone on.”
‘A disputed set of facts’
However, following the inquiry, Chief Constable Stephen Watson told Sky News he didn’t know if Ms Stewart was strip-searched because “there is a disputed set of facts”.
Responding, Ms Stewart said: “If you are still denying something after an independent investigation, you are in denial, aren’t you, as a force?”
Now the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has decided her complaints relating to her interactions with officers while in custody, including how she was searched, should be independently investigated.
In response a GMP spokesperson said: “We have apologised unreservedly to Ms Stewart for the matters where the service we provided her was not acceptable, and for the distress caused by her experiences with the police.
“Our Professional Standards Directorate thoroughly investigated all allegations made and will now fully assist the IOPC with their enquiries.
“In implementing all the recommendations of Dame Vera Baird’s report in the past year, we have significantly improved provisions for those in our custody – particularly women and girls – by ending the use of strip search for welfare purposes and by ensuring all female detainees are assigned a dedicated welfare officer.”
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‘Apology is not enough’
Ms Stewart doesn’t feel like the apology she received in a letter from the police standards department last year is enough.
She said: “How is this an adequate or appropriate apology after three to four years fighting and the endless failings. Really, how many times do we have to ask them to treat us like humans and take accountability for the actions of officers?
“I am losing the ability to reason with such stupidity and ignorance from GMP. The police not taking accountability feels like a constant attack. No growth can occur until they accept what happened.”
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Nearly a year on from the Baird Review, no officers have been disciplined for the treatment of Ms Stewart.
