A mother says she was forced to strip naked in a police cell and threatened by officers to drop complaints she had made against them.
Dannika Stewart says her complaints against Greater Manchester Police (GMP) led to her being detained and humiliated in a cell, and was told “You need to drop all your complaints against the police”.
She told Sky News: “I feel they’ll just be after me now. They will always be after me. I’m scared of what they will do next.”
Former GMP detective Maggie Oliver says she believes Dannika is among several complainants “targeted” for “standing up to the police”.
Image: Dannika Stewart as police told her she is under arrest
The review is due to be published soon and will criticise the police complaints system, Sky News understands.
Dannika agreed to tell Sky News her story ahead of the Baird review’s publication.
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Image: Dannika being taken away by police
In March 2022, she reported an alleged sexual crime committed against a young person. She felt it wasn’t being properly investigated so she complained to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In one complaint she told them she had a recording on her phone of a police officer admitting failures.
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Three months later she was told police wanted to speak to her, so she went to Pendleton police station in Greater Manchester. Here she was arrested.
Apparently, the man she’d accused of a sex crime had accused her of blackmail. Inside a police cell she says she was told to strip naked, and if she didn’t it would be done to her.
She believes the police were looking to recover her recording of the officer from the SIM on her phone.
She had handed the phone in without its SIM after her arrest.
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‘They needed to show me who was boss’
She said: “So I took my tracksuit bottoms off, which I knew they were going to take away from me anyway. I took my leggings off and then took my knickers off and I’m just sat there naked.”
She said she was left naked while officers walked in and out of the cell with one female officer staring at her breasts.
“It’s all about power,” she said. “Because when I left the police station that day the sergeant on the desk said, ‘you need to drop all your complaints against the police’.”
She added: “They needed to show me who was boss. They needed to control what I was doing.”
Ms Oliver, who resigned from GMP over a decade ago after blowing the whistle on police failures, is supporting Dannika through the Maggie Oliver Foundation.
Image: Maggie Oliver
She told Sky News: “Dannika became a target of that police force. She was seen as a threat to Greater Manchester Police.
“And what they did, they decided they were going to lock her up. I believe that was so they could seize a phone that she had disclosed to the IOPC she had evidence on of her mistreatment.”
She added: “Just like in the Post Office, it is about concealing what is going on. It is trying to protect the reputation of an organisation that is a very powerful public body.”
In October 2022, Dannika filed another complaint to the IOPC, this time about the strip search.
Like her previous complaints, this was passed on to an internal police investigation team within GMP’s professional standards department.
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Their report stated: “A strip search was not conducted nor requested. I understand you removed the phone upon request in custody and then removed your outer clothing so you could change into alternative clothing that GMP supplied due to there being a cord in your bottoms.”
Dannika says CCTV would show she didn’t change into GMP clothing and audio from the custody suite would capture her being told to strip naked for a search.
However, despite exercising her right to ask for the footage from the custody suite, the police did not provide it.
After her complaint was dismissed, she decided to approach the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to review how the complaint had been handled.
Image: Dannika was detained
Deputy mayor for safer and stronger communities, Kate Green, conducted the review and found that the investigating officer “did not review the CCTV footage from Ms Stewart’s time in custody or provide her with an explanation as to why he did not review the CCTV footage or the audio recordings”.
The investigator seemed to have inquired with officers what happened and accepted their version of events, leading to Ms Green’s conclusion that Dannika’s complaint should be upheld.
After another request for the CCTV, Dannika was told that the footage had been corrupted.
Over this time Dannika was kept on bail for 13 months over the blackmail allegations, remaining under the threat of prosecution and jail.
She worried about losing her son, and discovered officers had complained about her to social services saying she was being “obstructive” to the initial investigation that she had instigated by reporting the alleged sex crime.
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0:39
‘I don’t have anything to lose’
The IOPC reviewed information contained in children’s services documentation and confirmed that the word “obstructive” was used on a child and family assessment and in a child protection plan.
A note within the plan reads “The police have described Dannika as obstructive”.
The IOPC found no explanation for this and has recently ordered an investigation into this, along with eight other complaints made by Dannika, about the way her allegations were dealt with by the police.
‘We need a truly independent complaints system’
Ms Oliver added: “Many of the victims that I speak to fear that they will lose their child or children and I know that that is a tool that is used. And we need to make sure we have a complaints system that is truly independent.”
Dannika says the problem is that complaints through the independent watchdog website, firstly go directly to the professional standards teams within the local force.
Image: Dannika says her complaints against Greater Manchester Police led to her being detained and humiliated in a cell
She told Sky News: “If there was a robust and fit-for purpose complaints system, the police wouldn’t have known about the complaints I was placing.
“With the evidence I had, the complaints were of such a serious nature that should have been investigated by an independent body.”
As an example of this, one of her initial complaints about the failed investigation went directly to the officer she was complaining about, who then called her up about the complaint.
Dannika also complained about this in an email to GMP, saying, “How can she investigate her own conduct. I don’t understand. Is this allowed?”
In response GMP said the complaint “was originally to be service recovered and this is usually done in the format that the officer contacts the complainant to try and discuss the complaint and resolve, however in this case this hasn’t worked and your complaint is now under review by the district”.
Dannika says she was never contacted by “the district.”
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3:33
Woman strip searched by police speaks out
‘Where we are not successful, we admit our failings’
A GMP spokesperson told Sky News: “Greater Manchester Police activity is driven by just three things: to fight, prevent and reduce crime, keep people safe and care for victims. Where we are not successful, we admit our failings and we work transparently within governance and regulatory arrangements to redress what has gone wrong.
“Miss Stewart’s complaints continue to be reviewed by Dame Vera Baird and the Professional Standards Directorate. Until these reviews have concluded and reported their findings to Miss Stewart, it wouldn’t be right for the force to comment publicly.
“Miss Stewart has been provided with information relating to some of the allegations within her complaints but if she would like additional updates on the progression of others then she is welcome to contact the Professional Standards Directorate.”
The IOPC issued a statement to Sky News saying: “The vast majority of complaints are dealt with by forces and are only referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct if they meet criteria set out in law.
“The new complaints system has simplified the process to make a complaint, making it more accessible to members of the public who are dissatisfied with the service they receive from a police force.
“In many cases, if a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, they will have the right to have the force’s handling of the matter reviewed. In the most serious cases, this will be done with by the IOPC and ensures independent oversight of the system.”
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The blackmail charges against Dannika were recently dropped. She says she has never been provided with evidence of what exactly the blackmail charges entailed.
Some parts of the body-worn camera during her arrest, and her police interview have been given to Dame Vera as part of her inquiry into the treatment of women in custody, but not the CCTV from the custody suite.
Dame Vera is due to report within the next two months.
The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased “significantly” since 2022, according to a new report by parliament’s intelligence watchdog.
Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
It also said Iran’s intelligence services were “willing and able – often through third party agents – to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK”.
Image: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pic: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 and August 2023.
Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.
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The report authors add: “Whilst Iran’s activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially – unpredictable.”
The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.
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The report warns that while Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, it has taken steps towards that goal.
It found that Iran had been “broadly compliant” with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.
But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran “had the capability to arm in a relatively short period”.
The UK government is also accused of “fire-fighting” rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.
Image: Iran’s president oversees a parade in Tehran in April showing off the country’s military hardware. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
Image: Missiles are paraded through the capital during the recent National Army Day ceremony. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report says: “The government’s policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.
“As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: ‘Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran’.”
The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions “remain relevant”.
But the report authors questioned whether UK sanctions against individuals would “in practice deliver behavioural change. Or in fact unhelpfully push Iran towards China”.
The committee also said the British government should consider proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), although some argue it would limit the UK’s ability to talk to and influence Iran.
Responding to the report, a UK government spokesperson said: “The government will take action wherever necessary to protect national security, which is a foundation of our plan for change.
“We have already placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme and introduced further sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Iran, bringing the total number of sanctions to 450.”
British security services say Tehran uses criminal proxies to carry out its work in Britain.
In December, two Romanians were charged after a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London was stabbed in the leg. In May, three Iranian men appeared in court charged with assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists.
Earlier this year, the UK government said it would require the Iranian state to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, because of what it called increasingly aggressive activity.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.
And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.
There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.
Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.
Image: Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat
The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.
A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.
Image: Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene
As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.
Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.
Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.
The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.
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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.
We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.
They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.
In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.