I was forced to strip naked in police cell and threatened to drop complaints against officers, says mother
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”.
Dannika Stewart as police told her she is under arrest
Dannika is a subject of an inquiry by Dame Vera Baird, triggered last year after an investigation by Sky News into police strip searches and the treatment of women in custody.
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.
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.
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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Strip searching: What are your rights?
‘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.
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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Greater Manchester Mayor responds to Sky’s report on strip searches
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.
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.
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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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‘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.
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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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.
UK
Liverpool fan says his baby was flung 15ft in his pram and his partner run over during trophy parade
A father has told Sky News how his partner was driven over, and his baby son was flung 15ft in his pram, after they were hit by a vehicle during the Liverpool parade collision.
Daniel Everson, 36, had been with Sheree Aldridge and their five-month-old baby, Teddy, at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.
“The best day of my life turned into worst”, said Daniel, a lifelong fan of ‘The Reds’.
Daniel described the moment the car came towards him and his family.
“I tried to hold on to the front of the car and try and stop it, push it, do whatever I could [to stop it] from hitting my partner and my baby.
Daniel Everson was in the crowd for the Liverpool trophy parade when the incident took place
“Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.
“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.
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“As soon as that happened, I just started screaming for my partner, and I found her and I asked where Teddy was, and she didn’t know… and I found him and he was okay, thank God.
“He was in the road, in his pram, on his back, and I grabbed him. I chucked the pushchair to the side and I ran up to some paramedics with him.”
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The suspect is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Daniel, from Telford, said he felt like he was in “hell” as he rushed back to find Sheree.
“I had to carry her up the road with four police officers holding her while she was screaming and crying. At that point, I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I could see the injuries to her leg,” he explained.
Sheree, 36, is recovering at Aintree University Hospital after suffering muscle tissue damage. Daniel has been allowed to return home with Teddy after he was assessed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
“I feel a lot of emotions right now. Upset, angry, traumatised. A lot of unanswered questions that need to be answered.
“To me, it just wasn’t handled properly – the situation with the car getting that far into the crowd, in my opinion, he should not have got anywhere near us.”
Merseyside Police have now been given more time to question a 53-year-old arrested after a car struck a crowd at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.
The suspect, who police have described as a white British man from the local area, is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving, and drug driving.
Police have said the extra time they have been given to question the suspect runs into Thursday.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate have been charged with rape and other offences in the UK.
Andrew Tate, 38, faces 10 charges, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, relating to three women.
His brother Tristan Tate, 36, faces 11 charges relating to one woman – including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
The charges were authorised in January 2024, but full details have only been released now.
Bedfordshire Police issued an international arrest warrant for the brothers over allegations, which they “unequivocally deny”, said to have occurred between 2012 and 2015.
The Tate brothers are facing separate allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering in Romania.
They are also accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in a different case, which has been sent back to prosecutors.
They are due to be extradited to the UK following the conclusion of proceedings in Romania.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan outside a Bucharest court in January. File pic: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters
A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have authorised charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate for offences including rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm against three women.
“These charging decisions followed receipt of a file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police.
“A European Arrest Warrant was issued in England in 2024, and as a result the Romanian courts ordered the extradition to the UK of Andrew and Tristan Tate.”
The spokesperson added: “However, the domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendants have the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
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Representatives for Andrew Tate have been contacted by Sky News for comment.
Lawyer Matt Jury, of McCue Jury & Partners, representing several alleged British victims of Andrew Tate, said: “We welcome the clarity from the Crown Prosecution Service that our authorities are working to ensure the Tates face justice here in the UK – they cannot be allowed to escape extradition.
“At the same time, we ask once more that CPS admit its mistake in failing to prosecute Tate when he lived in the UK and finally charge him for the rape and assault of the other three women, our clients, who originally filed criminal complaints against him as long ago as 2014 but were failed by the system.
“They deserve justice, too.”
The allegations were subject to a police investigation, which was closed in 2019.
Merseyside Police has been given more time to question a 53-year-old man arrested over the Liverpool parade collision.
The suspect is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday.
Police have said the extra time they have been given to question the suspect runs into Thursday.
The force believes the vehicle which struck pedestrians on Water Street had followed an ambulance crew that was attending to someone suffering a heart attack, after a road block was temporarily lifted.
Earlier, new footage emerged showing a car being driven into the crowd as panicked fans watched in horror and tried to avoid being hit.
The CCTV footage showed supporters attempting to move out of the way as the vehicle ploughed into supporters.
Cries could be heard from the crowd – before police and members of the public chased after the car.
In an update on Wednesday, Merseyside Police said it was in contact with 79 people who were injured in the crash – an increase on the 65 people who were confirmed injured in the force’s previous update.
Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition following the collision, the force added.
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Moment car drives into crowds in Liverpool
Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said: “I’m pleased to say that the number of people in hospital is reducing as they continue to recover from the awful incident.
“We continue to support those still receiving treatment and as part of our ongoing enquiries we are identifying more people who were injured.
“I want to reassure the public of Merseyside that detectives are making significant progress as we seek to establish the full circumstances that led to what happened.”
Water Street where the collision happened has reopened. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
DS Wilson said that “extensive CCTV enquiries” were being carried out across Liverpool to “establish the movements of the car, a Ford Galaxy, before the incident took place”.
She added: “We have already had an incredible response from many of those who were there on the day, and I thank them for their co-operation with our investigation.
“I would encourage anyone who has not yet contacted police who may have information on this incident to do so.
“An extensive investigation into the precise circumstances of the incident is ongoing, and we continue to ask people not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident and refrain from sharing distressing content online.”
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Emergency service on Water Street after the collision. Pic: Reuters
It comes after Water Street was reopened to vehicles and pedestrians on Wednesday after the police cordon was lifted.
Street cleaning teams worked overnight to clear the road, which had been littered with bottles, cans and football scarves and flags.
One remaining Liverpool flag was removed from the top of a set of traffic lights by a worker wearing hi-vis.
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On Tuesday night, Liverpool manager Arne Slot decided not to attend the League Managers Association’s annual awards ceremony “in solidarity with those affected by the incident on Monday”.
Meanwhile, speaking at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said the collision on Water Street “showed the two faces of life”.
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Klopp sends ‘thoughts and prayers’ to victims
He said: “The most beautiful face for a long, long time: the parade was incredible, the mood was incredible and from one second to another everything changed and we learned again there are more serious things in the world than football.
“Thoughts and prayers go to the injured people and their families as well.
“It should have been one of the greatest days in the history of the city, after a long, long time, because we didn’t have the opportunity to do it last time. I don’t know how and why it happened but we know what happened and that’s very bad.”
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