A schoolgirl who was detained in a police cell overnight has said she was arrested because police mistook her afro-comb for a gun.
Rochae Davis, 15, has said she was innocently walking with friends in Croydon, south London, with the comb concealed in the waistband of her trousers.
But she was later arrested at her home, after police were alerted by CCTV footage purporting to show the youngster carrying a gun.
Although she was later bailed without charge, she must now return to a police station in April to face further questioning.
Describing her ordeal, she said: ‘As I was walking back with a friend, six police officers from Trident, the gun crime unit arrived, and had guns. They pushed us against a wall and searched us’.
‘It was only after they had finished that they said they had seen me on CCTV with a firearm. But it was an afro comb – it didn’t look anything like a gun.
‘I was scared and confused. I said I didn’t have a gun, but it was so unfair, they wouldn’t hear me out.
‘I didn’t know what was happening. They took my clothes and my stuff – it was really uncomfortable.’
Rochae’s mum, Simone, 33, slammed the police’s treatment of her daughter as ‘a disgrace’, as she had ‘never been in trouble’ previously.
‘If they thought they saw her with a gun on CCTV then why didn’t they stop and search her there and then’, she said.
She added that the six-inch afro comb belonged to her daughter’s friend and she had returned it the same day, which is why police were unable to locate it in the home.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘As officers were responding, police were contacted by the local authority CCTV control room, which was also monitoring the incident, with information that a female had been seen with what was believed to be a firearm in the area.
‘Police arrived and a number of people were dispersed. A short while later, officers stopped a 15-year-old girl in Poplar Walk and she was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm.
‘No firearm has been recovered at this stage. Detectives from Croydon CID are investigating and inquiries continue.’
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