Cops who stopped Team GB athlete and partner sacked for gross misconduct

The police officers who stopped and search Black athlete Bianca Williams have been sacked after a disciplinary hearing found them guilty of gross misconduct.

Metropolitan Police officers Pc Jonathan Clapham and Pc Sam Franks pulled over a car carrying Ms Williams, her partner - fellow athlete Ricardo Dos Santos and their baby. Team GB athlete Ms Williams, 29, and olympic sprinter Dos Santos, 28, made a complaint to the police watchdog saying they were racially profiled during an encounter on July 4 2020 with the group of officers.

The police followed them as they drove to their west London home from training with their baby son, then three months old, in the back seat of their Mercedes. The couple were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons after they were pulled over outside their property, but nothing was found.

Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, Pc Allan Casey, Pc Jonathan Clapham, Pc Michael Bond and Pc Sam Franks denied all accusations against them, including allegations that they breached police standards over equality and diversity during the stop and search. After today's disciplinary hearing, Dos Santos said: “very little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case”.

Bianca Williams stop and search by the Met Police in Maida Vale, north London (Copyright unknown)

The couple were handcuffed during the incident (Grab)

It was also alleged that the honesty and integrity of Pcs Casey, Clapham, Bond and Franks breached professional behaviour standards. The panel found Clapham and Franks had lied about smelling cannabis during the stop and search. Chairwoman Chiew Yin Jones said their conduct had breached standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and thus amounted to gross misconduct.

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Pcs Casey and Bond and Ps Simpson were found not to have breached any standards. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) brought the case against the five officers and said that the detention of Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams was "because they were black" and was "excessive, unreasonable and unjustified".

Karon Monaghan KC, for the IOPC, told the panel at the start of the hearing that the watchdog's case will say there is "institutional discrimination" in the Met Police. The IOPC's case relied on wider documents and reports that indicated black people are "much more likely" to be stopped and searched in London more generally, and that black people are "routinely treated" with "more suspicion and hostility" by police officers and "stereotyped as criminal".

Body worn camera footage shows Mr Dos Santos being handcuffed (PA)

Mr Dos Santos accused the officers of detaining him for "DWB, driving while black". He told the panel while giving evidence that he had been "afraid" for the safety of his partner and his son. When asked why he should be afraid of the police, the sprinter told of his "traumatic experiences" as a young black person who had been stopped by police on "multiple occasions" in the past.

He said he believes he is stereotyped as a black man driving a "nice car" as someone who "must be engaged in criminality", the misconduct hearing was told. The panel heard Mr Dos Santos was stopped nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018. When shown body-worn footage of him mocking and swearing at the officers, he accepted his behaviour, saying: "Everybody deals with trauma differently."

Ms Williams outside Palestra House, central London, for the gross misconduct hearing (PA)

Ms Williams cried as she watched footage of Mr Dos Santos getting pulled from the driver's seat to the roadside and handcuffed. She denied suggestions her partner could have acted differently to avoid police attention, insisting that "he can't change the colour of his skin".

All five officers gave evidence over the course of the misconduct hearing in which they denied accusations of racism. The panel heard they followed Mr Dos Santos in their police carrier because of the "appalling" and "suspicious" nature of his driving and were doing their duty when they conducted the stop and search.

Ms Williams and Mr dos Santos pose with son Zuri-Li Dos Santos (Dave Benett/Getty Images for San)

Williams competing in the Women's 200 metres heats at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London 2017 (British Athletics via Getty Images)

Ms Monaghan told the panel that these were "exaggerated" descriptions that did not "reflect the reality" of Mr Dos Santos not speeding around corners, indicating before all of his turns, not driving through red lights and not skidding on the road. Pcs Casey, Franks, Clapham and Bond all said they smelled cannabis during the stop and search and denied suggestions that this was made up to justify their actions.

Pc Franks admitted he had been "incorrect" when he said, as recorded on footage, that he could smell cannabis coming from the car. Acting Sgt Simpson and constables Clapham, Bond and Franks also faced allegations that their actions amounted to a breach of professional behaviour standards in relation to the use of force.

Following the hearing, Olympic sprinter Dos Santos said: “We’ve supported the IOPC case over the past three years and it’s highlighted what most black people are far too aware of regardless of their background, education and employment. They are nine times more likely to be stopped by the Met and three times more likely to be handcuffed.

“The allegations made by the police officers that I was guilty of bad driving, threatening violence and drugs were dishonest. I believe these are false allegations and were based on racist stereotypes and show very little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case.

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“If you can’t trust the police to be honest and accept when they have done bad and stereotype black people, what hope is there? I don’t believe that the panel has been brave enough to review what the Casey report has already clearly stated, which is that the Met Police is institutionally racist.

“This case has taken a big toll on our family and on our careers but it’s crucial that those people who have a voice use it as those people who don’t suffer without being listened to.”