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 Olympic sprinters Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos.

The two men won their appeal against a ruling which found they lied by saying they could smell cannabis during the stop and search in west London in July 2020.

Mr Dos Santos described the appeal decision as "disappointing" and said he and Ms Williams would challenge it in the civil courts.

During the incident, the couple were pulled over by the officers 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 home from training with their baby, who was then three months old.

The Met said that the couple’s car was stopped after it was seen driving suspiciously, including being on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver had sped off when asked to stop.

This was disputed by Ms Williams, who said they “were never on the wrong side of the road” but had been driving down “single-width roads”.

An IOPC report found that Mr Dos Santos continued driving for approximately 35 seconds after being asked to stop. It concluded that their car was on the opposite side of the road on two occasions when turning into and out of a T-junction.

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

Their dismissal was overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal, which found the panel's 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.

"Being a police officer in London brings about its own set of unique challenges," Mr Moore added.

He wished Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos "all good fortune".

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.

In response to the appeal ruling, Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell said: “We know this has been an overly lengthy and horrendous process for PC Clapham and PC Franks, as well as their families and colleagues."

He added that the case had been "hard on all involved" and re-emphasised a previous apology from the force to Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos over the stop and search.

"Ultimately, the evidence has shown that the stop and search and the actions of the officers did not amount to misconduct," Mr Savell said. "However, stop and search is most effective when used with the trust and confidence of Londoners."

He added the new "stop-and-search charter" would help rebuild trust.

In a statement following the tribunal decision, Mr Dos Santos maintained that the "actions and allegations" by the officers had been "completely unacceptable".

"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," he said.

"We are professional athletes; we pride ourselves on not doing drugs."

He added: "We shall challenge today's outcome in the civil courts.

Jules Carey, of the law firm Bindmans, which represents the couple, said the complaints system had "failed again" and it "will be for the civil courts to address this result".

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.

Mr Prior said the reinstatements were "yet another damning indictment" of the police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which referred the officers to the misconduct tribunal.

"Our colleagues have been dragged through hell and back for four years, for doing nothing more or less than the job the public of London expect us to do," he added.

An IOPC spokesperson said: "We note the outcome today of the officers' appeal and await the written decision by the Police Appeals Tribunal."

Ms Williams had alleged that racial profiling played a factor in the officers' conduct, but this was not upheld in the original misconduct tribunal.

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

Update 29th October: This article has been updated to include more background information about the police stop.

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