The Baird Inquiry has exposed officers at Greater Manchester Police (GMP) acting above the law: making unlawful arrests, inappropriate strip searches, and treating detainees in an “inhumane” manner.
This week, images emerging of a GMP officer kicking a man in the head will only add to scrutiny on the force.
But having spoken to many of those involved in the Baird Inquiry, which explored the treatment of detainees in GMP, many fear they are failing to learn its biggest lesson – accountability.
Warning: This story contains explicit and detailed accounts
A series of recommendations by the report author, Dame Vera Baird, aim to transform how officers conduct themselves.
For example, they will no longer be able to carry out “welfare” strip searches – which it was suggested were being used to exert control over difficult detainees – but will instead have to keep prisoners who they fear are suicidal under observation.
There has been a public apology from Chief Constable Stephen Watson on the publication of the inquiry, and he has accepted all the recommendations of the review saying some have already been implemented.
But can the review and one apologetic chief constable turn things around? Some of the subjects of the review aren’t confident it will happen, because they believe officers remain unpunished for the offences identified in the report.
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What is an unlawful arrest?
‘Accountability is a long way off’
Dannika Stewart says the force is still “in denial” over her strip search. The Baird Inquiry details how she was unlawfully arrested in October 2022 and later unnecessarily strip searched in what Ms Stewart described as “police on a power trip”.
Dame Vera told Sky News: “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.”
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”.
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Ms Stewart said: “If you are still denying something, after an independent investigation – you are in denial, aren’t you, as a force?”
She added: “To take accountability for what they’ve done, they’ve got to take responsibility for their actions, and they won’t take responsibility for their actions – so accountability is a long way off.”
Often it is one person’s word against the police. A domestic violence victim we called Maria, who the inquiry also said was unlawfully arrested and strip searched, is waiting for acknowledgement from the police that she was mistreated.
‘Wrong in every way’
Maria went to Pendleton police station to get keys and money from her partner who’d been detained for abusing her, but she couldn’t get in and ended up calling the police 14 times for help.
Dame Vera said: “She was outside Pendleton police station for six hours and they are just inside, ignoring her. They know she is a domestic abuse victim because she’s told them the whole story – in fact, she has had to repeat it 14 times.”
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‘Horror stories’ from police custody
Then when Maria swore at the police she was arrested and later strip searched, told to open her legs and “hold my private parts completely open” because officers believed she might be concealing a vape.
Dame Vera described this as “obviously wrong, in every way you can dream of”.
Yet, when Maria complained about her experience through the police complaints system, she was told her treatment was “acceptable,” “reasonable” and “proportionate”.
Officers investigating themselves
The inquiry highlights how sometimes officers seem to mark their own homework when it comes to complaints.
Chantelle Allan was left in a cell for 16 hours. She was on her period and, despite asking, was given no sanitary products and instead had to use her jumper.
Her complaint which she submitted online was investigated by the officer she was complaining about. “That sergeant investigated a claim that I made about him, which I don’t think is fair,” Ms Allen said.
Dame Vera agreed, describing it as “completely unacceptable”.
As a result of the inquiry, police complaints in Manchester are now dealt with at a central complaints department. But many feel the system needs a complete overhaul.
Lawyers banned from custody suites
Catriona McLaughlin, a solicitor who works in Greater Manchester, told Sky News that many of her clients are too afraid to use the complaints system.
She described the custody areas as “overwhelmingly male environments” and said so many of her clients have told her about mistreatment and abuse in custody that “it cannot be an anomaly”.
Ms McLaughlin added: “This must be happening on a regular basis and that’s a cause of great concern. And the issue being that it’s going under the radar because many of my clients don’t want to make a complaint, they are actively scared of the power of the police and say, ‘well, this is my local police officer, he will just come and get me’.”
Read more: ‘GMP humiliated me’, says man allegedly left naked for hours
Ms McLaughlin also noted that in Greater Manchester, lawyers are banned from entering the custody suite reception area.
She said: “I can see no legitimate reason as to why legal representatives are not allowed into these areas. It’s vital that we have early access to the custody record. We need to see if there’s been any searches, especially intimate searches, strip searches, [and] whether they were justified.”
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Using a freedom of information request Sky News asked every force in England if they have a policy of preventing legal representatives from entering the custody suite front desk area in their police stations.
Of over 30 responses, only Greater Manchester and one other force did this.
Ms McLaughlin added: “For what purpose do you not want a solicitor or a legal representative in that area? And is that because of the atmosphere [of] ‘it’s your domain, you don’t want to be scrutinised’.”
GMP said: “This is to assist with managing a custody office safely by reducing footfall in areas with volatile detainees.”
CCTV footage going missing
Ms McLaughlin also noted difficulty getting hold of vital CCTV footage from GMP to support a complaint.
She said: “We’re finding that when we request the custody footage, with sound, that either it’s not available, there was an upgrade on that day, so they’ve not got the footage anymore, or we’ve got the visual but not the audio, because they say that they are stored separately, and the audio isn’t available.
“But on the flipside, if it’s something untoward that my client was doing, they always have the footage, with sound, in full HD.”
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Baird Inquiry makes for ‘difficult reading’
The most concerning case that helped trigger the Baird Inquiry last year is that of Zayna Iman. In February 2021, she was strip searched while unconscious and claims that during more than 40 hours in custody, much of which she spent naked, she was raped.
Sky News examined custody records, and the cell footage provided to Ms Iman by the police using a subject access request. Two hours of footage was missing and remains unfound.
Police said there was no evidence of a sexual assault, but Zayna’s claims are being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has met Ms Iman and spoken to the IOPC about her case. He told Sky News that he is determined she will get “the fullest investigation to the highest standard”.
‘Report doesn’t lead to accountability’
However, Ms Iman didn’t support the Baird Review. She told Sky News: “It wasn’t suitable for my case. I’m alleging sexual assault – putting me through a public review is delaying the process further. It doesn’t lead to accountability and that is my issue.”
Again, that word “accountability”. Does Zayna have a point? Sky News has asked but GMP has not told us how many officers highlighted in the Baird Inquiry have been disciplined as a result of the findings. The Manchester Evening News reported that the “majority” still work for the force.
Chief Constable Stephen Watson told Sky News: “There are a series of complaints that was being investigated. There are matters which are being criminally investigated and these things must be allowed to take their course.
“Where wrongdoing is established on anybody’s part, when that misconduct meets that which is required – they will be exited from the organisation.”
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GMP said in a statement to Sky News: “We are aware of concerns about custody practices in Greater Manchester Police, as highlighted by the recent Dame Vera Baird inquiry.
“Whilst significant investment and improvement to GMP custody service provision has been made since an extensive HMICFRS inspection report was published in February 2023; and is further being made by accepting and promptly acting upon Dame Vera’s recommendations, we acknowledge that there is more work to be done.
“We remain committed to continuous professional development and to making improvements to every aspect of our custody service provision.”
We wait to find out whether these officers will face consequences for their actions.
Meanwhile, domestic violence victim Maria, who was stripped searched and told to spread her legs by the police, is still facing a criminal trial regarding allegations that she swore at the police.