'Police strip-searched my autistic child'

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who has autism said he was left "absolutely traumatised" after being first held down and then later strip-searched by police.

It happened after the boy, who also has learning difficulties, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a Cumbria Police officer.

The Children's Commissioner for England has described the boy's treatment as "shocking".

The force said officers had restrained the boy "for his own safety", but said it would not comment on the strip-search allegations because an investigation into what happened was being carried out.

The boy's mother, who we are not naming to protect her son's privacy, said he had mental health problems and was in "emotional crisis".

She said she called police in September after he began walking the 30-mile journey home from school, on the road and in a state of distress, and she could not persuade him to get into her car.

"He was so angry and so heightened, we didn't know what to do, so we called the police," she said.

"I don't feel like they dealt with him very well."

She said she warned the emergency operator about her son's additional needs and emotional state but, when police arrived, an officer "grabbed" her son who "reacted really badly".

"There was no de-escalation," she said.

"They both ended up on the floor and he ended up kicking her in the face."

The boy was arrested and taken to Kendal police station, where his mother said he was strip-searched for drugs because he was "standing funny and fidgeting".

She said this was typical behaviour and a feature of his autism, rather than a sign of anything suspicious, and the experience had been "devastating".

National Autistic Society director Tim Nicholls said: "What seems to have happened here is things seem to have really escalated when they really didn't need to.

"A little bit of autism training could have gone a long way in this case and stopped what is actually a really invasive and intrusive procedure."

The charity is calling for mandatory autism training for police officers.

Cumbria Police said officers had "attempted to safeguard the boy".

"An officer then attempted to restrain him for his own safety and the safety of other road users," a spokesperson said.

The officer was left with cuts, bruises and broken glasses and the boy was arrested on suspicion of assault of an emergency worker.

The force's professional standards department was looking into how staff could learn from what happened, the force said.

The Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, said: "This is a shocking example of a child being humiliated and traumatised by adults in positions of power."

Data gathered by her office showed, from 2018 to mid-2023, police conducted more than 3,300 child strip-searches.

These were often "unnecessary, unsafe and under-reported" and changes to police practices were needed, she said.

The Home Office said strip-search was "one of the most intrusive powers available to the police".

Its use should be "fair, proportionate and carried out with full regard for the dignity of the person being searched, especially children", a spokesperson said.

"Whilst there have been improvements, it is clear standards are not always being followed as they should.

"The government has committed to introducing new safeguards for strip-searching children and young people in its manifesto."

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