- Police Constable Kim-Louise Carter won a landmark sex-discrimination trial
- Miss Carter told the tribunal that the dog handling test was too tough for women
- Gloucester, Avon and Somerset and Wiltshire forces have been ordered to review their exams
A female police officer has been awarded £15,000 after failing a grueling fitness test to become a dog handler and now forces across the country will have to change their exam.
Constable Kim-Louise Carter had to complete a ten-mile run and then carry a dog named Hulk who weighed five and a half stone (35kg) over a course, in wet and muddy conditions.
She claimed that the test put women at a disadvantage because it was too physically tough to pass as she struggled to keep up with her male equivalents.
Miss Carter, 31 won a landmark sex-discrimination case proving that the system to become a dog handler was too demanding for some women.
Gloucester, Avon and Somerset and Wiltshire police forces all used the test that Miss Carter tackled.
As a result each constabularly has a higher percentage of male dog handlers compared to female, the employment tribunal in Bristol heard.
During the hearing Judge Street ordered that the three police forces must review their exam course. But this may affect other constabularies where women officers have struggled to complete the taxing fitness challenge.
Miss Carter told the tribunal that she became exhausted while carrying the dog up a hill known as ‘The Long Walk’.
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