Police officers sacked after Bianca Williams stop and search set to appeal

Former Met Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were sacked last year over the stop of Williams and her partner Ricardo Dos Santos.

Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos speaking to the media after the officers were sacked last year (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Archive)

Two police officers sacked for lying after saying that they could smell cannabis during a stop and search of British athlete Bianca Williams and her partner will have an appeal heard in October.

Former Met Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed in October last year after a disciplinary panel found they had lied about smelling the drug when they pulled over Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos and his partner Williams on July 4 2020.

The police followed the athletes as they drove back from training to their west London home with their baby son, then three months old, in the back seat of their Mercedes.

Officers handcuffed the couple and they were searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons but nothing was found.

The force came under heavy criticism after footage of the stop was posted on social media, showing a distressed Williams who was concerned about being separated from her baby.

Misconduct panel chairwoman Chiew Yin Jones said Clapham and Franks’ conduct had breached standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and this amounted to gross misconduct. They were then sacked.

After the hearing, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: “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.”

In the wake of their dismissal, an online appeal raised more than £150,000 for the officers.

The Police Appeals Tribunal, which hears appeals against findings of gross misconduct involving police officers, will hear their case on October 3 and 4.