Between Avani’s pleas to go home, and the ‘nothing more can be done here’ stare from the station officer, Suki senses the futility of the situation and decides not to take up his offer. This exemplifies how paralysing the process can feel for people who engage with it

In summary, following ‘search guidelines based on reasonable suspicion’, officers made a 15-year-old child take her clothes off in front of them because they didn’t believe her claims
Note:
🚩 ‘Reasonable suspicion’ = no evidence beyond speculation + judgments based on prior activity

The station officer also admitted that there wasn’t enough evidence to determine whether the drugs were in Avani’s possession, but insists there was a ‘valid line of enquiry’ since Avani was ‘refusing to cooperate’ with police questioning

He claims his officers followed standard procedure, admitting to Suki that no more drugs were found… but not before they deemed Avani’s behaviour to place her ‘at further risk of harm’ and making a referral to Social Services

He proceeds to say: ‘we had reason to suspect she was carrying further drugs’, so his officers brought Avani into custody ‘for the purpose of searching and safeguarding to ensure she wouldn’t take the drugs herself’

Despite her denials, the station officer believes there are reasonable grounds to suspect Avani is in possession of controlled drugs and states his colleagues have been authorised to conduct a strip search. The scene ends with an agitated Avani struggling to process what is about to happen to her

The next time we see Avani, her friends have been released, but she remains detained. The station officer challenges her to explain why drugs were found at her feet at the tube station. Again, Avani protests her innocence, with humour, but this time is visibly anxious

Meanwhile, in the classic soap drama convention of a character-unavailable-at-the-point-of-greatest-need, we see both her parents’ mobile phones ringing but neither of them pick up the call

Putting two and two together, Jack then tells the officers who brought the girls in that Avani is friends with a drug dealer, which the officers interpret as a green light to return to the cell to conduct a strip search

Elsewhere, Avani is being detained by two officers. As her parents are yet to be contacted, an appropriate adult is also present. Avani restates her innocence in response to the station officer remark that she is under suspicion for possession of class A drugs

The same officer then spots the wallet and goes to inspect it. On finding pills, she asks Avani if she dropped it, which Avani denies. Unconvinced, the officers take the girls to Walford police station

The girls turn to see the officers approaching them. One asks why they aren’t in school today. Avani lies, but is caught out, then proceeds to spin another story involving Lily, and asks to be let off

On spotting two police officers coming down the stairs from the other side of the station concourse, the boy then rapidly makes his exit from Avani and the girls, dropping the wallet on the floor in the process