Bianca Williams: Met PC denies race was a factor in athlete pursuit

A Metropolitan Police officer has told a tribunal that race was not a factor when athlete Ricardo dos Santo was stopped by police.

Mr dos Santos, 28, and his partner, sprinter Bianca Williams, 29, say they were racially profiled during the stop and search in July 2020.

Five Met Police officers deny gross misconduct.

PC Jonathan Clapham told the misconduct hearing he would treat anyone the same "regardless of the race or ethnicity".

He said there was no discussion in the police vehicle of Mr dos Santos being a "young black male" when the decision was made to follow him.

Mr dos Santos and Ms Williams were stopped outside their home in Maida Vale, west London, and had their three-month-old baby with them in their car.

Both were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons - nothing was found and neither was arrested.

Several video clips were played during the hearing, showing the police pursuit of Mr dos Santos's Mercedes.

PC Clapham agreed the footage showed the sprinter braked and indicated at almost every junction he turned into, but added: "That is not demonstrative of what his driving was like, though."

The officer said he saw "rapid acceleration" and "excessive braking" which he said would indicate that the "driver is nervous when clearly alerted to the fact of a marked police vehicle being behind him".

He said it was "blatantly obvious" the vehicle needed stopping, adding there were "common signs" of someone trying to evade police.

Acting Sgt Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey, PC Clapham, PC Michael Bond and PC Sam Franks deny all accusations, including allegations they breached police standards over equality and diversity during the stop and search.

When asked at the end of his cross-examination if he might have done anything differently, PC Clapham replied there was "nothing he would have done differently".He also said he thought he had dealt "leniently with Ricardo Dos Santos" and that he and the other officers had been "fully justified in what we did".

He ended by saying that he did not think Mr Dos Santos was a role model at all.

The hearing continues.

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