A watchdog is investigating after a crashed police drone struck and hospitalised a child in Kent
A watchdog is investigating after a crashed police drone struck and hospitalised a child in Kent (Image: )
A watchdog is investigating after a crashed police drone struck and hospitalised a child in Kent. The young victim was rushed to hospital after being hit by the drone while police were following up reports of an assault in the Isle of Sheppey.
The pilot of the drone, launched last August, failed to identify the overhead cable the vehicle crashed into, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. A Kent Police special inspector has since been handed a misconduct notice after the drone ‘seriously injured’ the hand of the unidentified child.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has also launched its own investigation into the incident – marking the first time the watchdog has looked into a case of a UK civilian being injured by a police drone.
During the incident on the afternoon of August 2, Kent Police said officers had been responding to reports of an assault on Kent’s Isle of Sheppey. The force launched a DJI M30T drone – weighing nearly 4kg and equipped with a thermal camera – to search for a suspect.
A record-only investigation from then AAIB explained: “To assist with an emergency response, a UA (Unmanned Aircraft) was deployed. While taking off, the UA struck a telegraph cable and subsequently collided with a member of the public, causing a hand injury that required hospital treatment.
“The remote pilot noted that the cable hazard had not been identified during the rapid deployment of the UA.”
A Kent Police spokesperson added that the child, whose age has not been revealed, had been rushed to a London hospital due to the injuries to their hand. Kent Police responded just after 4pm on Saturday, August 2, 2025, to reports of an assault in progress on the Isle of Sheppey,” a spokesperson said.
“As part of efforts to search the area for the suspect, a force drone was deployed. While in operation, it struck an overhead cable and fell to the ground, hitting a child and injuring their hand. They were treated for injuries at a London hospital.
“Kent Police made a mandatory referral to the IOPC, who are now carrying out an independent investigation into the circumstances.”
A spokesperson for the AAIB said it had decided to carry out a record-only investigation as it deemed new safety findings from a full investigation ‘unlikely’. The AAIB receives around 700 notifications of incidents and accidents each year, and our role is to identify safety lessons that can help prevent future occurrences,” the spokesperson said.
“We take every notification seriously and carefully assess each one against established criteria to determine the most appropriate level of investigation. We recognise that any incident involving injury, particularly to a member of the public, is deeply concerning for those affected.
“In this case, having reviewed the circumstances and available evidence, we concluded that a full investigation was unlikely to yield new safety findings that would benefit wider aviation safety. For this reason, a record-only investigation was conducted.
“This does not diminish the seriousness of the incident itself, but reflects our judgment on where investigative resources can have the greatest impact on improving safety.”
An IOPC spokesperson added: “We can confirm we are independently investigating an incident where a child was hurt by a drone which crashed while being flown by Kent Police. It happened on 2 August when officers were responding to reports of a disturbance on the Isle of Sheppey.
“A drone was launched, hit an overhead cable and fell to the ground, hitting the child and seriously injuring their hand. As part of the ongoing investigation, we have served a misconduct notice on a special inspector. The serving of a notice does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.”
