Bianca Williams: 'I'm shocked by Met officer fundraiser'

Bianca Williams said people are blaming her for two officers losing their jobs

British athlete Bianca Williams says she is "shocked with the amount of money that's been raised" for two constables fired for gross misconduct.

More than £140,000 has been donated to Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks who carried out a stop and search of Ms Williams and Ricardo dos Santos.

Despite being trolled even more, she had "no regrets" about reporting it.

A disciplinary panel found the officers lied about smelling cannabis in the athletes' car.

The crowdfunding page states "every penny will go to support the officers".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Ms Williams said: "I feel like everyone has a right to do a crowdfund but in the circumstances it's quite shocking, saying they shouldn't have lost their jobs.

"But they lied and there has to be a punishment - they lost their jobs for that."

Ms Williams and her partner Mr dos Santos, a Portuguese Olympic sprinter, said they were racially profiled when they were searched outside their home in July 2020.

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

Police followed the athletes as they drove to their home in Maida Vale 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, but nothing was found.

The disciplinary hearing found the actions of PC Clapham and PC Franks amounted to gross misconduct.

'Trolling is 10 times worse'

Speaking on the reaction of the hearing, Ms Williams told the BBC: "I'm glad people can see that they were lying but it's one where we've gotten so much hate from the officers now losing their jobs.

"We're getting blamed, people are saying it wasn't a racist situation, it wasn't a racist attack.

"We were trolled in 2020, but now it's 10 times worse."

• What are the rules for stop-and-search?

• Met officers sacked over athlete search misconduct

• Met apologises to sprinter over stop-and-search

Despite the trolling increase, Ms Williams said she had no regrets about reporting the incident and taking it further.

"We have a voice and we are going to use it. There are so many people who have been stopped and haven't been able to speak up or don't have the financials to take it further.

"We are doing this to help the next person because it's going to happen again."

Since the hearing, a crowdfunding page, set up by a person named only as "UK", has seen 8,339 supporters raise significantly more than the target of £50,000.

Comments on the site describe their dismissal as "scandalous appeasement and scapegoating" and "an utter disgrace".

Ms Williams' solicitor said in a statement: "The comments of the apparently serving officers not only demonstrates an unwillingness to be held to account but it exposes just how toxic the culture in the Met is, and how far off change seems to be.

"The commissioner should immediately come out to publicly support the panel's decision and the importance of accountability in the Met if public confidence in the police stands a chance of being restored in London."

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