Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos: Two Met Police officers sacked for lying during stop and search

Two Met Police officers have been sacked for committing gross misconduct during the stop and search of two Black athletes, a panel has found.

Five officers faced a gross misconduct hearing relating to the stop and search of Team GB athlete Bianca Williams and her partner, Ricardo Dos Santos, while ther baby was in the car. The incident happened outside their Maida Vale home.

The British world championships medallist and the Portugal Olympic sprinter say they were racially profiled. The disciplinary hearing found PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks lied about smelling cannabis in Mr Dos Santos' car. The panel found they breached professional standards of police behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity.

Four other allegations against them were found not proven.

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

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: “The misconduct hearing panel, led by an independent legally qualified chair, has heard detailed evidence over five weeks to reach its conclusions today.

“While the panel accepted the officers’ version of events in most matters, including that their decisions were not motivated by ethnicity, it found that PC Clapham and PC Franks lied about smelling drugs on stopping the vehicle.

“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.

“It is essential that police officers are held to account for our actions and the commissioner has been clear that we welcome scrutiny. However, it has taken over three years for these misconduct investigations to conclude. This length of time benefits nobody and has had a real and significant impact on the lives of everyone involved – the officers and their families as well as Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos.

“We are pleased that this issue will form a central part of the Home Office accountability review, the details of which were announced earlier this week.

“Today's findings also highlight that we 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

“We are committed to pursuing new and bolder approaches including more training for officers, better guidance on the use of handcuffs, using stop and search more precisely in our highest violent crime neighbourhoods and more precise engagement with those most affected.

“I remain confident that 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.”

Further allegations against acting PS Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond were found not to have been proven.