Panel decision due in hearing of Met officers’ stop and search of black athletes
Ricardo Dos Santos and his partner, Bianca Williams, believe they were racially profiled during an encounter with police in 2020.
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Your support makes all the difference.A misconduct panel is set to deliver its decision on whether five Metropolitan Police officers are guilty of gross misconduct over the stop-and-search of two black athletes.
Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, and his partner and Team GB athlete Bianca Williams, 29, made a complaint to the police watchdog saying they were racially profiled during an encounter on July 4 2020 with the group of officers.
The police followed them as they drove to their west London home from training with their baby son, then three months old, in the back seat of their Mercedes.
The couple were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons after they were pulled over outside their property, but nothing was found.
Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, Pc Allan Casey, Pc Jonathan Clapham, Pc Michael Bond and Pc Sam Franks deny all accusations against them, including allegations that they breached police standards over equality and diversity during the stop and search.
They could be sacked if the panel decide gross misconduct is proven at the hearing in south-east London on Wednesday.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) brought the case against the five officers and said that the detention of Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams was “because they were black” and was “excessive, unreasonable and unjustified”.
Karon Monaghan KC, for the IOPC, told the panel at the start of the hearing that the watchdog’s case will say there is “institutional discrimination” in the Met Police.
The IOPC’s case relied on wider documents and reports that indicated black people are “much more likely” to be stopped and searched in London more generally, and that black people are “routinely treated” with “more suspicion and hostility” by police officers and “stereotyped as criminal”.
Mr Dos Santos accused the officers of detaining him for “DWB, driving while black”.
He told the panel while giving evidence that he had been “afraid” for the safety of his partner and his son.
When asked why he should be afraid of the police, the sprinter told of his “traumatic experiences” as a young black person who had been stopped by police on “multiple occasions” in the past.
He said he believes he is stereotyped as a black man driving a “nice car” as someone who “must be engaged in criminality”, the misconduct hearing was told.
The panel heard Mr Dos Santos was stopped nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018.
When shown body-worn footage of him mocking and swearing at the officers, he accepted his behaviour, saying: “Everybody deals with trauma differently.”
Ms Williams cried as she watched footage of Mr Dos Santos getting pulled from the driver’s seat to the roadside and handcuffed.
She denied suggestions her partner could have acted differently to avoid police attention, insisting that “he can’t change the colour of his skin”.
All five officers gave evidence over the course of the misconduct hearing in which they denied accusations of racism.
The panel heard they followed Mr Dos Santos in their police carrier because of the “appalling” and “suspicious” nature of his driving and were doing their duty when they conducted the stop and search.
Ms Monaghan told the panel that these were “exaggerated” descriptions that did not “reflect the reality” of Mr Dos Santos not speeding around corners, indicating before all of his turns, not driving through red lights and not skidding on the road.
Pcs Casey, Franks, Clapham and Bond all said they smelled cannabis during the stop and search and denied suggestions that this was made up to justify their actions.
Pc Franks admitted he had been “incorrect” when he said, as recorded on footage, that he could smell cannabis coming from the car.
Acting Sgt Simpson and constables Clapham, Bond and Franks also face allegations that their actions amounted to a breach of professional behaviour standards in relation to the use of force.
They are said to have failed in relation to their levels of authority, respect and courtesy, as well as in their duties and responsibilities.
Pc Casey is also accused of breaching professional standards in the way he carried out his duties and responsibilities or gave orders and instructions.
It is also alleged that the honesty and integrity of Pcs Casey, Clapham, Bond and Franks breached professional behaviour standards.