Legal News

The Court of Appeal has ruled that police removing the clothes of a 14-year-old girl in custody over fears for her safety did not amount to a breach of the girl’s human rights.

However, Lord Justice Pitchford expressed concern over the police decision to leave a distressed 14-year-old without clothing.

The incident happened on 16 September 2010, when the girl – known only as PD – was arrested and taken into police custody in Liverpool. She had a history of mental health problems and was arrested for being drunk and disorderly outside a kebab shop in Birkenhead.

Her behaviour was so disorderly police had to handcuff her when they took her to Wirral Police Station, where she was strip-searched and her clothes were removed for her own protection, in case she used them to hang herself. A female police officer gave PD a gown to wear and attempts were made to trace the girl’s mother.

Lord Justice Pitchford told the Court of Appeal:

“I am bound to express concern that it should have been thought appropriate immediately to remove the clothes of a distressed and vulnerable 14-year-old girl, without thought for alternative and less invasive measures to protect her from herself...”

Children’s rights campaigner and mental health charities say children and people with mental health conditions should not be confined to a police cell, as this may increase feelings of anxiety and distress.

It is reported that police officers increasingly strip-search suspects and may remove their clothing over fears for their own protection and to prevent them from using items to clothing to self-harm or commit suicide in police custody suites.

However, shortages in mental health beds – especially beds at specialist children’s mental health units – mean that the police may have no option but to detain a young person with a mental health issue in police custody for their own protection.

Some campaigners say that strip-searching children and removing their clothes to prevent self-harm or suicide is becoming increasingly common in police stations.

Children's Rights Alliance for England and Just for Kids Law interceded in the case of PD, saying that removing the girl’s clothes had not complied with procedures, which require officers to minimise distress in a person who has been arrested and may have a mental health condition.

CCTV footage revealed that while the teenager was held in a police cell, she had been “extremely distressed” and had been tearing her hair out and banging her head against a wall in the cell.

Lawyers who represented PD claimed that police should have taken more care to consider her state of vulnerability.

They also claimed that her rights to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child had been breached when police removed her clothes.

Children’s welfare organisations have called for an urgent review of police strip and search procedures relating to children.

However, Lord Justice Pitchford, Lord Justice Lewison and Lord Justice Fulford sitting at the Court of Appeal unanimously rejected claims that the police had acted inappropriately in the case – adding that protecting the girl from harming herself had been a legitimate action for officers to take.

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of specialist mental health solicitors – and the UK’s largest provider of Legal Aid Mental Health advice.

Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors offer free legal advice to NHS mental health patients – and in some cases may be able to advise the Nearest Relative or carer of a mental health patient, including initiating treatment reviews, where appropriate.

For expert legal advice on mental health law, call the Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors’ Helpline on 0203 114 1124.