Two former police officers who stopped and searched Bianca Williams, the British athlete, after claiming that they smelled cannabis, have been given back their jobs.
Former Met Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed in October last year after a disciplinary panel found that they had lied about smelling the drug when they pulled over Williams and her partner, Ricardo Dos Santos, the Olympic sprinter.
The finding has been overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal, which found that the original decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.
Former Pcs Clapham and Franks were “dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers” whose reputations had been “ruined” by the original findings, Damien Moore, the chairman of the tribunal, said.
“Both officers did not lie.
“Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police.
“They should receive back-pay.”
In a statement following the Police Appeals Tribunal decision, Mr Dos Santos said: “The appeal decision is disappointing.
“Our drive home from training in 2020, with our baby, should never have turned into a violent incident where we were wrongly accused of smelling of drugs.
“We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs.
“The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable.
“The IOPC were clear that all four officers lied.”
He added: “We shall challenge today’s outcome in the civil courts.”
Rick Prior, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: “Justice has been served. Why it ever got to this point however remains an absolute mystery.
“Pc Jonathan Clapham and Pc Sam Franks have today been fully exonerated and their reputations have rightly been restored. We are delighted for them.
“But this result is yet another damning indictment of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Who holds them to account for what was a political witch hunt against two hard-working police officers?”
He added: “Londoners would want officers to act when they saw such behaviour on our roads… and it remains astonishing that officers lost their jobs for doing their job.”
‘Unreasonable and unjustified’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) originally brought the case against 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”.
Mr Dos Santos spoke after the initial disciplinary hearing and said “very little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case”.
He added: “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?”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, also said the panel’s findings would “anger and alarm many Londoners”.
The force came under heavy criticism after footage of the stop was posted on social media, showing a distressed Ms Williams who was concerned about being separated from her baby.
An IOPC spokesman said: “We note the outcome today of the officers’ appeal and await the written decision by the Police Appeals Tribunal.”
In 2023, Ms Williams won bronze in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
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.
Source Agencies
