Bianca Williams: Two Met officers sacked over athlete search gross misconduct

Two Met Police officers have been sacked after carrying out a stop-and-search of two athletes which was found to have amounted to gross misconduct.

British world championships medallist Bianca Williams, 29, and Portugal Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, say they were racially profiled.

They were handcuffed and searched outside their west London home while their baby was in the car in July 2020.

All allegations against three other officers were not proven.

Speaking after the conclusion of the officers' disciplinary hearing, Ms Williams told the BBC in a sit-down interview: "This is huge, this is a massive step," but added: "It shouldn't have taken three years to get to this result."

During the incident, the couple were pulled over by officers in Maida Vale as they returned from a training session and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.

Ms Williams filmed some of the incident and their coach, the British former 100m Olympic champion Linford Christie, posted the footage online, leading to it being shared widely on social media.

The hearing found the two sacked officers - PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks - lied about smelling cannabis in Mr Dos Santos' car and so had breached professional standards of police behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity.

Ricardo Dos Santos and Bianca Williams accused the officers of racially profiling them

"I'm happy that this is the result," Ms Williams continued. "This is a huge step in the right direction for people who continue to get stopped by the police and have that same old excuse about smelling of cannabis when nothing's been found."

She said the result was "bittersweet" and "unfortunately" no action would be taken against the other officers, while Mr Dos Santos, speaking outside the hearing, said: "Little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case."

'Anger many Londoners'

He called allegations made by the officers regarding bad driving, violence and the presence of drugs "dishonest" and "based on racist stereotypes".

"If we can't trust in the police to be honest and accept when they have done bad, and stereotype black people, what hope is there," he added.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the panel's findings would "anger and alarm many Londoners", and "just shows the scale of the challenge the new leadership team have to change the culture of the Met".

The Met said the family had "deserved better" and apologised to them for their "distress".

The panel found it was likely the smell of cannabis during the stop-and-search had emanated from another area.

The hearing was told PC Clapham and PC Franks were "not seen to attempt to verify the smell", which led to them becoming "trapped in a lie" when they gave evidence.

Panel chairwoman Chiew Yin Jones said their behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

The other three officers, Acting Sgt Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond were found by the panel not to have committed gross misconduct but will have to carry out a "reflective practice review process".

'Driving while black'

Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos complained to the police watchdog about what had happened to them, saying they had been racially profiled because Mr Dos Santos was "DWB, driving while black" in a Mercedes. The watchdog brought a case against the officers.

Karon Monaghan KC, for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), told the disciplinary panel at the start of the hearing that the watchdog's case would say there was "institutional discrimination" in the Met Police.

Britain's Asha Philip, Imani Lansiquot, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita after winning 4x100m bronze at the World Athletics Championships in August

Mr Dos Santos told the panel while giving evidence that he had been "afraid" for the safety of his partner and his three-month-old son.

When shown body-worn footage of him mocking and swearing at the officers, he accepted his behaviour, saying: "Everybody deals with trauma differently."

Mr Dos Santos was stopped nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018, the panel heard.

The panel found that he and Ms Williams had not been treated unfavourably because of race, but the the IOPC's Steve Noonan said he recognised the incident had "caused widespread community concern about the use of stop-and-search powers by police".

'Low trust and confidence'

He added: "We know that black people are almost nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white people, and nearly nine times more likely to be searched for drugs, despite a lower 'find rate' of drugs for black people than white people.

"It's figures like these and cases like Bianca and Ricardo's which emphasise why black people report having low trust and confidence in police."

He also said the Casey review had already "highlighted widespread cultural issues and discriminatory conduct or attitudes in the Met", and that the force and "policing as a whole need to work hard to restore the trust and confidence of black people".

The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said he was "confident" the Met "can and will learn from the experiences of Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos and work alongside communities to deliver fair and effective stop-and-search for all Londoners".

Earlier this year, Ms Williams won bronze in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

She also won gold in the same discipline at the European Championships in 2018 and silver in 2016.

At the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and 2018, she won 4x100m gold representing England.

Mr Dos Santos competed at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics in the 400m.

Correction 12th September: This article has been amended following a complaint to the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]