Two Met officers sacked for misconduct over athlete search
Two Metropolitan Police constables have been dismissed without notice after a disciplinary panel found their actions during a "highly distressing" stop and search of two black athletes amounted to gross misconduct. Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were sacked after it was found they lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, and his partner and Team GB athlete Bianca Williams, 29, on July 4 2020. They were accused of racially profiling the couple alongside fellow Met officers Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, Pc Allan Casey and Pc Michael Bond. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Get out of the car! Get out of the car now!
00:02 It's a sign, section 1, get out of the car! PC Franks, local light, get out of the car!
00:06 This is the moment when Olympic sprinter Ricardo dos Santos was stopped by five Metropolitan Police officers in July 2020.
00:15 Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, do anything! In the back of the car are his partner Bianca Williams, a Team GB sprinter, and their then three-month-old son. Police search the Mercedes for drugs and weapons, but find nothing. Officers tell Mr dos Santos they smell cannabis, despite he and his partner being athletes who don't smoke and are regularly tested.
00:39 You can smell cannabis, are you dumb? The couple made a complaint to the police watchdog, claiming that the stop and search was the result of officers racially profiling them.
00:50 And today, a disciplinary hearing dismissed PC Sam Franks and PC Jonathan Clapham without notice for gross misconduct, after it found they lied about smelling cannabis during the stop and search.
01:04 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 that has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case.
01:24 Police followed Mr dos Santos and Ms Williams as they drove to their West London home after training. The disciplinary panel heard that officers followed the couple because of the appalling and suspicious nature of Mr dos Santos' driving.
01:39 The stop and search in which they were both handcuffed in front of their infant child was clearly highly distressing for them and also caused widespread community concern about the use of the stop and search powers by the police. These officers have now been publicly held accountable for their actions.
02:01 The three other officers involved in the incident have been cleared after the panel found their use of force was proportionate and reasonable.
02:09 It doesn't sit well with myself or Bianca. At no point could they point out where it was that I became aggressive because I came out with one hand on my phone and the other hand visible. I wasn't swearing when I came out, I was asking why am I being stopped and it was then when they just grabbed me and pinned me up against the wall. There was no need for them to actually use force straight away.
02:38 All five officers denied accusations of racism over the course of the misconduct hearing. However, black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white people and the Met has previously acknowledged it has a long way to go to earn the trust of all of London's communities.