Met police officers win their appeal against sacking

Two Metropolitan Police officers have been handed their jobs back after winning an appeal following their sacking for the stop-and-search of Team GB athlete Bianca Williams and her boyfriend.

Former Met PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed in October last year after a panel found they had lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over the Portuguese Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos, 29 and Williams, 30.

But the finding has now been overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal which found the original decision was 'irrational' and 'inconsistent'.

Former PCs Clapham and Franks were 'dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers' whose reputations had been 'ruined' by the original findings, Appeals Tribunal chairman Damien Moore said.

He added: 'Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back-pay.'

'The evidence was not good enough or strong enough to allow such a devastating conclusion,' the panel of two men and one woman concluded. 

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

During the incident, 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.

Mr Moore continued: 'Being a police officer is a difficult job.

'Being a police officer in London brings about its own set of unique challenges.'

Officers such as Clapham and Franks are in the 'media and public spotlight', he added.

'The last four years have been difficult for all parties concerned,' he continued.

'We wish Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams all good fortune.'

At the hearing in October 2023 the other three officers, Acting Sgt Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond were found by the panel not to have committed gross misconduct but had to carry out a 'reflective practice review process'. 

Mr Dos Santos told the panel while giving evidence that he had been 'afraid' for the safety of his partner and his three-month-old son.

But when shown body-worn footage of him mocking and swearing at the officers, he accepted his behaviour, saying: 'Everybody deals with trauma differently.'

The panel heard he was stopped nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018. 

In December last year it was revealed he also works as an Amazon delivery driver alongside his athletics training. 

Hugh Davies, representing Clapham, said yesterday the officers had 'every reason to suspect criminality' when they pulled Dos Santos over.

'Look at how he had driven. Fifteen seconds to get out of the car. His whole attitude.'

Mr Davies said another officer at the scene had smelt cannabis, but was not found to have lied.

He said: 'These findings are inherently unreasonable. There was a smell of cannabis.

'It's unreasonable to assume Clapham did not smell cannabis in the area and lied about it.

'The idea that an officer of (Clapham's) character should lose his career is contrary to all fair sense.'

'He is a person who is an absolute credit to the police.'

Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: 'Justice has been served. Why it ever got to this point however remains an absolute mystery.

'Pc Jonathan Clapham and Pc Sam Franks have today been fully exonerated and their reputations have rightly been restored. We are delighted for them.

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'But this result is yet another damning indictment of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

'Who holds them to account for what was a political witch hunt against two hard-working police officers? 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.

'Londoners would want officers to act when they saw such behaviour on our roads... and it remains astonishing that officers lost their jobs for doing their job.'

In a statement after the hearing, Mr Dos Santos said: 'The appeal decision is disappointing.

'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.

'We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs.

'The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable.

'The IOPC were clear that all four officers lied.'

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

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

Jules Carey of Bindmans LLP, which represents Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos said: 'It is unsurprising that the decision of the Misconduct Panel was overturned.

'The panel got itself into a complete mess as soon as they settled on the bizarre view that the streets of London smell of cannabis.

'The complaint system has failed again and it will be for the civil courts to address this result'.

Misconduct panel chairwoman in the original case 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.

The Met officers were part of a territorial support group unit who were tasked with helping to cut priority crime such as gang and knife offences. 

Williams had said racial profiling had played a factor in the officers' conduct, but this complaint was not upheld in the original tribunal. 

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. 

'The original, independently chaired panel found the officers were dishonest, which the Police Appeals Tribunal has now overturned as irrational.

'We also recognise the impact this case has had on all involved, and have previously apologised to Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams for the distress caused during this incident. 

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

'The upcoming launch of our new stop and search charter, co-written by Londoners, is helping us greatly with this work.'

After the hearing in October last year, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: '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.

Speaking out after the October 2023 hearing which led to the officers dismissal, Mr Dos Santos said: '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 has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case. 

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'If you can't trust the police to be honest and accept when they have done bad and stereotype black people, what hope is there? I don't believe that the panel has been brave enough to review what the Casey report has already clearly stated, which is that the Met Police is institutionally racist.

'This case has taken a big toll on our family and on our careers but it's crucial that those people who have a voice use it as those people who don't suffer without being listened to.'

In August 2022 Mr Dos Santos revealed he had been pulled over by police again two years after the original stop and search. 

He shared three clips on Twitter, including one of an officer withdrawing his extendable baton, and said seven armed police had stopped his £57,000 Tesla. 

In December last year Williams was banned from driving over a failure to disclose the identity of the driver of a car that police alleged had committed traffic offences. 

Lavender Hill magistrates court heard imposed the ban despite being told it could jeopardise Williams's chances of going to the Olympics. 

Williams pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to tell police the identity of a driver, but she told the court she was not driving the Tesla at the time of the alleged offences. 

Representing herself, she said she was working as a tennis coach in the evenings and as a full-time athlete during the day. 

She was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay a fine of £276, a surcharge of £110 and £85 costs.

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

Last year, Ms Williams won bronze in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. 

She also won gold in the same discipline at the European Championships in 2018 and silver in 2016. 

And at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and 2018, she won 4x100m gold representing England. 

Meanwhile Mr Dos Santos competed at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics in the 400m but did not receive a medal.