12 hours Ago By Jabed Ahmed
Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been handed their jobs back after winning an appeal against a ruling that they lied during a stop and search of British athlete Bianca Williams . Former Met Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed in October last year after a disciplinary panel found they had lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos and his partner Ms Williams. The finding has 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. “Both officers did not lie. “Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police.
“They should receive back-pay.” The stop and search occurred on 4 July 2020 when 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. 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. 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.
In the wake of their dismissal, an online appeal raised more than £150,000 for the officers. At the Paris Olympics this summer, Ms Williams was part of the women’s 4x100m quartet heat that qualified for the final and went on to win a silver medal. This is a breaking news story, more follows.
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