Officers 'assaulted child' claim

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A police force is being investigated over claims its officers assaulted a 14-year-old boy who had previously been held in custody for 59 hours.

Strathclyde Police was criticised by the Police Complaints Commissioner last week for ignoring child detention laws by holding the boy.

The Crown Office confirmed it is now examining a claim the boy was assaulted by officers in a separate incident.

The assault is said to have happened two months after the boy's detention.

The Crown Office confirmed that a report alleging an assault on the teenager by two police officers in Glasgow was being considered by the city's procurator fiscal.

A spokeswoman said: "There has been a report to the fiscal and there has been a full investigation. It remains under consideration."

Written responses

She added a decision on whether or not the officers would be charged had yet to be taken.

Commissioner Jim Martin said last week that the Strathclyde force, which is Scotland's largest, should apologise to the child and his mother for what he described as a "systemic failure" in relation to child detention rules.

Officers also failed to contact the boy's parents quickly enough, according to Mr Martin's official report.

The boy's mother spoke out over his treatment

The boy's mother had contacted the commissioner and raised 16 complaints about her son's detention from Saturday, 2 September until to Monday, 4 September last year.

Two complaints were upheld and Strathclyde Police has been asked to provide written responses to five others, including a claim involving the removal of the child's trousers.

The Commissioner ruled that the child should not have been held in custody for 59 hours, as he did not fit the detention criteria under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 or Strathclyde Police's Standard Operating Procedure.

The Commissioner also upheld the complaint that police failed to contact the boy's parents "within a reasonable time period".

Speaking to BBC Scotland last week, the boy's mother called for a change in the police complaints process.

She said: "I would quite expect police to apprehend a 14-year-old boy who is out late at night and under the influence of alcohol but he should never have been treated like that."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "The matter is currently in the hands of the area procurator fiscal."