Mum wins five-figure payout after cops strip searched her and left her naked in a cell
The 44-year-old had her clothes ripped off after clenching her fists as she was patted down
A TRAUMATISED mum won an £11,000 payout from police after she was strip searched and dumped naked in a cell.
Catering assistant Kay Earles, 44, was arrested for being drunk and disorderly on a night out but when the officers got her back to the station in Middlewich, Cheshire, they threw her to the floor and ripped her clothes off.
The custody sergeant was caught on CCTV threatening the mother-of-three with a strip search when she clenched her fists as she was patted down.
After making a complaint to Cheshire Police they admitted wrongdoing and awarded Kay the five-figure sum.
Kay, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “I have never been in trouble with the police before for anything like this and it was scandalous what they did."
She continued: “The detention officer said where is the blood from on your coat? I didn’t realise it was there and my fists were clenched, because I was anxious and stressed.
“This woman then dropped me to the floor. Ruptured all the tendons in my right arm as she pushed it up in the air.
“My arm was up behind my back and the custody officer said if you don’t behave we will strip your clothes off.
“I have no history of any trouble with the police and was horrified at what was happening.
“Two women took me into the cell and started ripping my clothes off. I was just dumped naked on the floor.
“There were men around and it was all captured on camera. It was so humiliating.";
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She added: “They eventually gave me a sheet and a tee shirt and I really couldn’t believe it was happening.
“Men came in and out and there were men there all the time.
“People shouldn’t be treated like this. It’s appalling to think you go out for the evening and yet you can end up having your clothes ripped off by women in police uniform.
“Cheshire police sent me a letter saying the officers involved would get further training.
“I have still got the mental scars. They never logged the strip search stuff and they described the attack on me as ‘soft physical force.’
“That’s a contradiction in terms. How can you have physical force that is soft?”
After the incident, Kay was forced to take a week off work and had physiotherapy on her arm for 12 months.
Cheshire Police accepted their handling of her arrest had been excessive and paid out through the civil courts after the case against her was dismissed.
Her solicitor Emma Grantham, of Russell and Co, said: “Kay was subjected to an unjustified strip search and was left naked in a cell for a period of time, she was completely humiliated.
“The CCTV footage from the custody suite records the sergeant threatening Kay with a strip search if she did not comply.
“Obviously it goes without saying that a custody sergeant cannot use a strip search as a threat to persuade somebody to do something.
“A strip search must be justified and required to either safeguard the person in custody or staff. This was evidently not the case.”
Chief Inspector Julie Westgate, of Cheshire police, said: “The Constabulary’s Professional Standards department investigated the complaint in relation to being placed in safety clothing. The findings were that her complaint should be upheld.
“We are fully committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those individuals who are detained in our custody. When this falls below the standards expected we review the circumstances to ensure that all procedures were followed and if there are shortcomings take the appropriate action.
‘’In this case the officers involved were given management action and their performance was reviewed to make sure the health and welfare of detainees are safeguarded.”
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