GMP takes no action against cops who arrested and strip searched woman 'based on almost nothing'

Police have apologised to a woman who was strip-searched 'based on almost nothing' - but have refused to discipline any officers.

The damning Baird report published in July criticised Greater Manchester Police for its treatment of women and girls held in custody, among them Dannika Stewart who found herself on the wrong side of the law when she made a report of grooming.

The report revealed the suspect she reported was arrested but days later, following an argument with police, she was also arrested on suspicion of blackmail and making malicious communications. The report reveals a PC told her: "Now Dannika, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

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She 'lost her temper' and officers called her a 'k*** head' and told her that she was 'boring', according to the report. She was then strip-searched, and she said one PC was staring at her breasts.

Dame Vera Baird, the report's author, said 'based on almost nothing, GMP turned Dannika from a victim into a suspect'. Dame Vera said Dannika was on bail for a year, despite there being no evidence of blackmail.

She said: "Dannika was taken into a cell and told to 'strip or be stripped' because she was 'concealing' - although Dannika had come to the police station with her phone, as requested, and only put it down her trousers, when the police officer tried to take it by force, after refusing to let her give it to the custody officer.

"She was kept naked for some time, then told that they'd got the strip search wrong, and had to do it again. That didn't happen, but she feels this was part of 'torturing' her. Abusers are well-known for being manipulative, and this alleged abuser had everything to gain if the woman driving the police against him could be compromised."

GMP's Professional Standards Directorate launched an investigation into Dannika's case but it has now concluded no officer involved in her case will face criminal or disciplinary action even though the force accepted the service she received was 'not acceptable' in 16 of the 51 allegations investigated.

Posting GMP's 'outcome letter' on X, Dannika asked: "How can unlawfully strip searching someone and breaching human rights not be serious enough for any disciplinary???"

She waived her right to anonymity so her story could be told in the Baird report.

Former GMP detective turned whistleblower and vocal critic of GMP, Maggie Oliver, also shared the 'outcome letter' and tweeted: "I still have to see a SINGLE OFFICER, let alone a Senior officer, held to account or even reprimanded! It stinks tbh and I’m disgusted and outraged, not for the first time I must add. All that time, reliving traumas, millions of pounds of public money and then nothing! Dannika has given me her permission to share this on her behalf, and she is quite rightly devastated!"

A GMP Spokesperson said: “We apologise 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 reformed Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) and vastly improved disciplinary system is ensuring that the people of GM can have confidence in their police force. Those not fit to wear the uniform are being removed from the force with more than 100 officers being dismissed so far on the Chief Constable’s watch.

“Our PSD has reviewed a wide-range of material relating to allegations, including body-worn video, case files, and custody records. While we found no evidence amounting to misconduct, it is clear that Ms Stewart did not always receive the consideration and care she should rightly expect.

“The time of Ms Stewart’s complaints reflect a period where our custody system was not performing to an acceptable standard and saw poor structures and processes compounded by a lack of routine leadership and scrutiny.

“Our subsequent investment in leadership, training, and accountability has seen His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary recognise significant improvements which we continue to build on as we implement all of the recommendations of the Dame Vera Baird review.”

The inquiry's report - which highlights a series of 'unlawful' arrests and strip-searches of vulnerable women - concludes there's now an 'overwhelming case for women officers taking sole responsibility for women detainees'.

GMP has been told it must be 'an explicit policy' that across the force 'there is never a woman detainee in any GMP custody suite who does not have continuous female welfare support throughout'.

The force has been given six months to end strip-searching and the use of anti-rip clothing in cases involving the vulnerable, and told to consider the use of equipment like airport scanners to 'eradicate degrading strip-searching from police practice as much as possible'.