Three police officers are set to face a misconduct hearing for their role in the strip search of Child Q.

The black schoolgirl was searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis in December 2020.

The search by Metropolitan Police officers took place at the 15-year-old girl’s school in Hackney without another adult present.

The chief of policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets has since apologised and described the incident as “truly regrettable”.

The Met first referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in May 2021.

An independent investigation has now determined that the two female officers who carried out the search, and a third officer who was at the school at the time have a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Officers are alleged to have not followed procedure and to have discriminated against Child Q due to her race and gender.

The Metropolitan Police will also hold a misconduct meeting with a fourth officer who was at the school during the search.

The IOPC did not find that this officer’s alleged actions amounted to gross misconduct.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, who leads policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said: “We have been clear in saying that the experience of Child Q should never have happened and was truly regrettable.

“While we have publicly apologised, I am also writing formally to Child Q and her family to say sorry for the trauma that we caused her.

“It will now be for the hearing panel to determine whether the matters against the three officers are proven and it is important we don’t pre-judge the outcome.

“Since Child Q we have made significant practical improvements, such as requiring more senior levels of authorisation, in how we carry out strip searches in custody and what we call ‘more thorough searches where intimate parts are exposed’ outside of custody.”

The IOPC is now calling for a substantial review of policing powers relating to the strip search of children.

It said that it had investigated five other cases involving the strip search of children by Metropolitan Police officers.

These include the strip search of a 16-year-old boy at Ilford police station in January 2020 and another at Bethnal Green police station in October of that year.

In both of these cases the IOPC has said there is currently no indication that any officers may have behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings.