A child suffered a serious hand injury when a police drone fell from the sky after hitting an overhead cable that the operator failed to spot, an investigation has found. The incident occurred on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent on 2 August 2025, as officers deployed the DJI M30T drone to search for a suspect following reports of an assault.
The drone, which weighs nearly 4kg and is equipped with a thermal camera, struck a telegraph cable and then hit the child, causing injuries that required hospital treatment in London. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) conducted a record-only investigation, noting that the remote pilot had not identified the cable hazard during the rapid deployment.
Kent Police confirmed the child was taken to a London hospital for treatment. The force made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has launched an independent investigation and served a misconduct notice on a special inspector. The IOPC said this does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will follow.
The AAIB stated that a full investigation was unlikely to yield new safety findings, as around 700 notifications are received each year. They emphasised that the injury is deeply concerning but that resources are prioritised where they can have the greatest impact on improving safety. This is believed to be the first time the IOPC has investigated a case of a UK civilian being injured by a police drone.
