‘My daughter was strip searched by police after a harrowing ordeal’

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been criticised by a father whose 14-year-old daughter was ‘unlawfully’ strip searched after she alleged she was groomed and raped.

Marlon West said police bosses have more to do to protect children in the region from sexual exploitation. His comments come after his daughter Scarlett went through a harrowing ordeal while in police custody.

Scarlett was arrested in August 2019 following suspicions she had been involved in a car robbery. Her case was highlighted in the Baird Inquiry,which revealed how women and girls had been treated while in custody.

Scarlett waived her right to anonymity and agreed for her father to speak on her behalf.

The teenager, now 19, was made to strip to her underwear after being arrested, the inquiry found. She did not have an appropriate adult present with her while it happened, the report said.

Scarlett described being detained for more than 24 hours and searched in a room close to the custody desk with a glass door ‘through which anyone could see her in her underwear’.

Officers strip searched the teenager ‘because she had hidden an e-cigarette from the police on some other occasion,’ the inquiry concluded.

A report on Scarlett’s case published as part of the inquiry added that two women police officers ‘told her to take her clothes off’ to search her, and that they ‘put their fingers between her toes’, but ‘nothing was found’.

The report also said ‘Scarlett went missing and was raped’ in 2019 by a man known as Adult 4, and that another man named Adult 5 had ‘groomed her,’ with Scarlett describing being driven round to hotels to take drugs and have sex.

GMP said investigations into the allegations are ongoing. No arrests have been made.

The inquiry reported Scarlett ‘she didn’t feel believed’ by police after the incidents, and that GMP ‘did not effectively protect her’ from events such as ‘frightening visits at night from men’ to her home.

Scarlett’s father is calling for police bosses to do more to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE) after GMP announced it has made major changes to how it treats people in custody.

Mr West also said he has met with Labour MP Jess Phillips to discuss a national strategy to address child exploitation.

A report this week said GMP has ended welfare strip searches and introduced a range of measures to make improvements to how people are treated in police custody, including creating new female welfare officer roles, and providing officers with refresher training on the use of voluntary interviews to reduce the number of arrests, as well as on CSE.

Mr West said only a small part of the response has focused on protecting children from sexual exploitation.

He told the LDRS: “I’m not impressed with it, my campaign is around child sexual exploitation around Greater Manchester, but there is only a tiny bit on there right at the end [of the latest report update].

“I am really disappointed with the update because there is not very much about child sexual exploitation. Right at the end it says about training new officers, but it doesn’t give any depth to it.

“So is that just the new recruits? What about the older officers? It’s not very clear and there’s not much about it.”

GMP has publicly apologised for what happened to a number of people in its custody, including Scarlett.

A police spokesperson told the LDRS: “Since Scarlett’s time in custody, we have already acted in several areas to improve our service. This includes every female detainee being appointed a dedicated female welfare officer and bespoke dignitary packs, containing sanitary products, being proactively issued.

“All officers are being trained on our revised voluntary attendance policy, and we are working with the College of Policing to ensure all officers are trained to recognise and respond to the effects of domestic and sexual trauma on survivors.

“Our overall response to child sexual exploitation has drastically improved and is seeing survivors supported and perpetrators vigorously pursued. Almost 3,000 suspected sex offenders have been arrested in GM this year and we are committed to getting justice for victims.

“While an extensive investigation continues into allegations from Scarlett and her father, and we understand the impact of their experience cannot be undone, we are confident that her experience of the GMP of today would be much improved from that of two years ago.”

GMP’s response to the Baird Inquiry was discussed this week at Greater Manchester’s Police, Fire and Crime Panel, where deputy mayor Kate Green reported the changes to political leaders.

Ms Green told the LDRS that Scarlett’s account was “disturbing” and said tackling child sexual exploitation is a key focus for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

She added: “Her full case goes far beyond the remit of the Baird review’s recommendations, and the full circumstances of her treatment by GMP, and her exploitation, are still being investigated by the force. We will continue to support Scarlett and her father as the investigation progresses.

“Tackling child sexual exploitation remains a key priority for us. We have already seen three comprehensive inquiries into non-recent CSE in areas of Greater Manchester over recent years, commissioned by the Mayor.

“To complete that work, the Mayor has commissioned HMICFRS, assisted by Ofsted and the CQC to conduct an in-depth inspection and assessment of GMP’s current practice in protecting and safeguarding children. They are also looking at the wider, multi-agency complex safeguarding arrangements across Greater Manchester.

“As we have done through the Baird review, we will continue to shine a light on poor practice and hold those organisations accountable. It is only by doing so, that we can effect real change for women like Scarlett, and ensure that no-one else has to go through what she did.”