Bianca Williams: PCs get jobs back after athlete search dismissal

Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been handed their jobs back and will receive back-pay after winning an appeal against their dismissal following their stop and search of two athletes.

Met PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were fired in October 2023 after their search of the British world championships medallist Bianca Williams and Portugal Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos.

The two men won their appeal against a ruling which said they lied by saying they could smell cannabis during the stop and search.

During the incident in July 2020, the couple were pulled over by the officers in Maida Vale, west London, and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.

The officers had followed Ms Williams and her partner Mr Dos Santos as they drove from training to their home with their baby, who was then three months old.

Mr Clapham and Mr Franks were dismissed after a disciplinary panel found they had lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over the athletes.

The finding was overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal which found the original decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.

The dismissed PCs were “dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers” whose reputations had been “ruined” by the original findings, Appeals Tribunal chairman Damien Moore said.

“Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back-pay,” he said.

Hugh Davies, representing Mr Clapham, said the officers had “every reason to suspect criminality” when they pulled Dos Santos over.

Mr Davies said another officer at the scene had smelled cannabis, but was not found to have lied.

Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the officers had been “fully exonerated and their reputations have rightly been restored”.

“Justice has been served. Why it ever got to this point however remains an absolute mystery,” he said.

An Independent Office for Police Conduct spokesperson said: “We note the outcome today of the officers’ appeal and await the written decision by the Police Appeals Tribunal.”

The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.

Ms Williams had said racial profiling had played a factor in the officers’ conduct, but this complaint was not upheld in the original misconduct tribunal.

At the Paris Olympics this summer, she competed as part of the women’s 4x100m quartet heat that qualified for the final and went on to win a silver medal.