Supporters of sacked Met officers who stopped black athletes Bianca Williams & Ricardo dos Santos raise £55k

Supporters of sacked Met police officers who were involved in the stop and search of black athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos have raised over £55,000 through an online fundraising campaign, exceeding its target of £50,000 in less than two days after it was launched. 

Metropolitan Police constables Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed from the force after the panel found their actions amounted to gross misconduct. The duo were sacked after it was found they lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over Olympic sprinter Dos Santos, 28, and his partner and Team GB athlete Williams, 29, on July 4 2020.

PCs Clapham and Franks, along with acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey, and PC Michael Bond, all denied all accusations against them, including allegations that they breached police standards over equality and diversity during the stop and search.

They were accused of racially profiling the couple alongside fellow Met officers Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, Pc Allan Casey and Pc Michael Bond. The police followed the athletes 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. Mr Dos Santos accused the officers of detaining him for “DWB, driving while black”.

He later said the stop and allegations against him were "based on racist stereotypes and show very little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case."

The hearing found PC Clapham and PC Franks lied about smelling cannabis in Mr dos Santos' car and so had breached professional standards of police behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity. Allegations against three other officers were not proven.

The JustGiving page said the sacking “comes at a time of great austerity where both will be affected by mortgage payments, food bills and general cost of living.” It added: “Despite people’s personal views on this decision, this page has been created to solely support the officers and their families at this difficult time. So please refrain from airing them on this platform.”

Earlier this year, Ms Williams won bronze in the 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships. Mr dos Santos competed in the 400m at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.

After the ruling, Ms Williams told the BBC: "It shouldn't have taken three years to get to this result but I am happy that this is the result and this is, like I said, a huge step in the right direction for people who continue to get stopped by the police and have that same old excuse about smelling of cannabis when nothing has been found."