Two police officers found guilty of misconduct after athletes stopped and searched

Two police officers, found guilty of gross misconduct over the stop and search of two black athletes in London have been sacked.

Bianca Williams and her partner Ricardo Dos Santos were handcuffed while driving with their baby in July 202. They made a complaint to the police watchdog saying they were racially profiled during the encounter.

Five officers - Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, Pc Allan Casey, Pc Jonathan Clapham, Pc Michael Bond and Pc Sam Franks - were accused of breaching police standards during the stop and search and all gave evidence over the course of the misconduct hearing in which they denied accusations of racism.

The police followed the athletes 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 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.

The couple were searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons after they were pulled over outside their property, but nothing was found.

On Wednesday, the panel found Pc Clapham and Pc 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.

The panel found it not proven that Pc Clapham and Pc Franks breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of equality and diversity.

Pcs Casey and Bond and Ps Simpson were found not to have breached any standards.

Mr Dos Santos spoke after the disciplinary hearing;

"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.

"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."

IOPC director Steve Noonan described the stop and search as "clearly highly distressing" and said it caused "widespread community concern about the use of stop and search powers by police"

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: "Honesty and integrity are at the core of policing and, as the panel has concluded, there can be no place in the Met for officers who do not uphold these values.

"Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams deserved better and I apologise to them for the distress they have suffered."

He added that the panel's findings highlight they "still have a long way to go to earn the trust of our communities, particularly our black communities, when it comes to our use of stop and search".

And Mr Ward said he remains "confident that the Met can and will learn from the experience".

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