A female police officer (not pictured) won £15,000 after a judge agreed that women are at a disadvantage(File picture: Getty)

Police could be forced to change entrance requirements for female dog handlers after a landmark case saw almost £15,000 handed to a female officer after she failed the exam.

Constable Kim-Louise Carter claimed that the gruelling test put women at a disadvantage because it was too tough to pass and keep up with her male competitors.

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During the exam, Constable Carter had to complete a 10 mile run before carrying a five-and-a-half stone dog called Hulk over a course in wet and muddy conditions.

Miss Carter’s long-standing goal to become a police dog handler came to an end when she was withdrawn from the two and a half hour exam.




She had previously been a community support officer from 2005 and became a constable in 2013.

There is a much higher proportion of men being recruited than woman because of the physical requirement(File picture: Getty)

An employment tribunal was told how three police forces, Avon and Somerset, Gloucester and Wiltshire, all use the same entrance exam which has resulted in a much higher proportion of men being recruited than women.

The tribunal was told that out of 24 dog handlers in Avon and Somerset just three were women and Wiltshire had four women out of 12 in total, while of the 48 dog handlers in the Gloucester force just four were women.

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She said that she ‘dug deep, real deep’ to keep up with the men and complete the course but she just couldn’t as her legs felt, ‘like jelly’, the Telegraph reported.

She said: ‘I could lift the dog but had nothing left to carry him. I just couldn’t get any momentum’ as she tried to complete course during a section known as ‘The Long Walk’.

Lawyers for the three forces said that one of the requirements for the job was being physically fit because dogs often track criminals over long periods of time across challenging terrain along with the extra demand added when a suspect is eventually caught.

Police are now reviewing the judges recommendations (Picture: Getty)

The tribunal, which lasted for four days between October and November last year found that the test had a more demanding physical challenge for women and therefore suggested sexual discrimination.

The judge said: ‘Where a standard test had negative impacts on members of a protected group, here women, then it either needs to be changed or objectively justified.’

After agreeing that women were at a disadvantage compared with men Miss Carter was awarded £14,930 for indirect sexual discrimination.

A spokesman for Gloucester police said the three forces were now reviewing the judge’s recommendations.