Watchdog investigates woman's strip-search complaint

Dannika Stewart was arrested in October 2022 by Greater Manchester Police

The police watchdog is to investigate complaints from a woman about the way she was treated by officers in custody after complaining she was told to strip before a search.

Dannika Stewart was arrested by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on 10 October 2022 and searched at Pendleton Police Station.

She made 60 complaints about her treatment and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now launched an independent investigation into six of them, including those relating to the search.

A statement from GMP said the force had since ended the use of strip searches for welfare purposes when dealing with women and girls and "apologised unreservedly" to Ms Stewart.

Ms Stewart told the Baird Inquiry, which examined the treatment of women and girls in custody by GMP, that she was told to take off her clothes so she was naked and was not given a blanket for modesty.

She was "visibly upset by the degradation she felt", the report said.

The inquiry heard Ms Stewart had reported a man she suspected of grooming and was later arrested on suspicion of blackmail and malicious communications.

She was on bail for a year despite there being no evidence, the report said.

Ms Stewart requested a review into the way her complaints had been handled, and the IOPC sought to find out if they had been "properly addressed".

The assessment found 44 of the 60 had received a "reasonable and proportionate outcome", while Ms Stewart's review of 16 complaints had been upheld.

'Challenging time'

Eight complaints were referred to the Reflective Practice Review Process, which addresses police conduct and underperformance.

David Ford, director of the IOPC, said: "We appreciate this has been a challenging time for Ms Stewart, involving numerous investigations and subsequent reviews.

"Given the serious nature of the complaints, it was necessary for us to take time to scrutinise the events."

The independent inquiry, carried out by Dame Vera Baird KC, published its findings in July 2024.

A spokesperson for GMP 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.

"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.

"For women and girls we have ended the use of strip search for welfare purposes and ensured all female detainees are assigned a dedicated welfare officer."