Kent Police have apologised for wrongly arresting, handcuffing and strip-searching a man outside a nightclub. Alioune Haynes, formerly of Gillingham, who is a former diversity advisor to the force, also received an out of court settlement of £8,500. He said he was searched at the Chatham club in 2006 because he was black and made a complaint against an officer. In a letter to Mr Haynes, Kent Police Assistant Chief Constable Allyn Thomas said the actions were "unjustified". 'Inhumane strip search' Mr Thomas said: "We sincerely regret the physical and emotional injury caused to you during the arrest and subsequent strip search on March 25, 2006 and acknowledge that our actions were unjustified. "Please accept our sincerest apologies in relation to these events and we trust that you can now put the matter behind you." Mr Haynes, who was a DJ at the Chatham club, said the strip search was "inhumane" and he had refused to take a drug test because he was being unfairly singled out because he was black. The month before he had given one of several diversity talks to Kent Police. An off-duty black police officer, who was a friend of Mr Haynes, was also strip-searched after visiting the nightclub in 25 March, 2006, and filed an official report about the incident. Two officers were due to appear at a disciplinary hearing in June 2008, but it was halted for legal reasons. Following the apology Mr Haynes, who now lives in Canada, said: "In some ways they [Kent Police] tried to push it to the side but the fact that they have had to come out and do this obviously shows that they do accept some type of responsibility for what's gone on. "I hope that the force as a whole looks forward to actually making a difference in the way that they behaviour towards people from ethnic minority backgrounds."



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