Two officers dismissed for gross misconduct over stop and search of Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos

A disciplinary panel determined that PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks had lied about smelling cannabis in Mr Dos Santos’ vehicle and as such had breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to honesty and integrity. Four other allegations against them were found not proven.

The panel found that all allegations against three other officers, PC Allan Casey, Sergeant Rachel Simpson and PC Michael Bond, were not proven but will all be subject to the reflective practice review process.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: “The misconduct hearing panel, led by an independent legally qualified chair, has heard detailed evidence over five weeks to reach its conclusions today.

“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.

“Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams deserved better and I apologise to them for the distress they have suffered.

“It is essential that police officers are held to account for our actions and the Commissioner has been clear that we welcome scrutiny. However, it has taken over three years for these misconduct investigations to conclude. This length of time benefits nobody and has had a real and significant impact on the lives of everyone involved – the officers and their families as well as Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos.”

He added: “We are pleased that this issue will form a central part of the Home Office accountability review, the details of which were announced earlier this week.

“Today’s findings also highlight that we still have a long way to go to earn the trust of our communities, particularly our black communities, when it comes to our use of stop and search

“We are committed to pursuing new and bolder approaches including more training for officers, better guidance on the use of handcuffs, using stop and search more precisely in our highest violent crime neighbourhoods and more precise engagement with those most affected.

“I remain confident that the Met can and will learn from the experiences of Ms Williams and Mr Dos Santos and work alongside communities to deliver fair and effective stop and search for all Londoners.”

The MPS made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) shortly after the incident on July 4, 2020, in Lanhill Road, W9 due to a complaint recorded and public interest in the matter.

Officers from the MPS’s Taskforce, on patrol in the area in response to an increase in violence, had stopped and searched a vehicle they said was being driven in a manner that raised suspicion.

Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams were handcuffed while they and the vehicle were searched. Nothing was found, no arrests made and the occupants allowed on their way.

The IOPC investigation determined five officers should face a gross misconduct hearing to answer allegations they breached professional standards relating to duties and responsibilities, use of force, equality and diversity, order and instructions and authority, respect and courtesy and honesty and integrity.

The hearing panel, led by an independent legally qualified chair, heard detailed evidence from all parties involved and examined dashcam footage from the police van and the officers’ body-worn video, parts of which are in the public domain.

IOPC director Steve Noonan said: “I want to acknowledge Bianca and Ricardo who, having spoken out about their experience, showed considerable patience and determination while they waited for the outcome of their complaint.

“The stop and search in which they were both handcuffed, in front of their infant child, was clearly highly distressing for them and also caused widespread community concern about the use of stop and search powers by police.

“These officers have now been publicly held accountable for their actions. We, at the Independent Office for Police Conduct, decided the officers had a case to answer for their actions and that they should face these misconduct proceedings.

“But only a police misconduct panel, led by an independently and legally qualified chair, could decide whether or not the case was proven. That panel has now decided that officers PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks be dismissed without notice for breaching the police standard of professional behaviour relating to honesty and integrity for claiming they could smell cannabis on Ricardo.

“We are acutely aware that Bianca and Ricardo’s interaction with police and their feeling of being treated less favourably by officers because of their race, is reflective of the experiences of many black people across London and throughout England and Wales.

“We know that black people are almost nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than White people, and nearly nine times more likely to be searched for drugs – despite a lower find rate of drugs for black people than white people. The officers in this case claimed they smelled cannabis in the athletes’ car despite no drugs being found in the search.

“It’s figures like these and cases like Bianca and Ricardo’s which emphasise why black people report having low trust and confidence in policing.

“The Casey review highlighted widespread cultural issues and discriminatory conduct or attitudes in the Met. It’s clear that the Met and policing as a whole need to work hard to restore the trust and confidence of black people. We acknowledge that the Met’s Commissioner has accepted systemic and cultural failings in his force and has put plans in place to attempt to rebuild trust with Londoners.

“We would encourage anyone who feels they have been mistreated or discriminated against by the police to exercise your right to complain. It is only by speaking up, that you can make your voice heard.”

In a statement, the MPS said: “Used appropriately, stop and search save lives and is an important tactic to keep Londoners safe, helping us identify criminality and take dangerous weapons off our streets.

“However, we know from speaking to members of the community that stop and search can have a negative impact on individuals and communities, particularly when we get things wrong. When this happens we risk losing the trust, confidence and co-operation of Londoners. Those risks are higher in communities where stop and search powers are used most often, generally where violent crime, driven by a small minority, is highest.

“This is why we are trialling a new approach called ‘precision stop and search’. It’s precise in that we are trialling it in areas with high numbers of weapon enabled crime and precise in the way in which we engage at a hyper local level, with members of the community who will be most affected. Central to all of this will be training for the officers, to ensure that the quality of the stop and search encounter is positive and respectful.

“We want to work with our communities, with a collaborative approach, and to ensure that we have their consent in using tactics to keep them safe.”

The MPS said stop and search data is regularly published, adding: “We want to give the public confidence in all the tactics we use and we recognise that there is a disproportionate impact on some communities. In 2019, before this incident, a review was commissioned by then Commissioner Cressida Dick of the Met’s handcuffing policy in response to significant community concern about the use of handcuffs before an arrest has been made.

“The review consulted with young black men to understand their experiences and perceptions that handcuffs were used disproportionately against them, and with police officers, to consider their experiences of policing London in the context that violence against officers was becoming more frequent and serious.

“This resulted in a new policy being launched in November 2021 to provide a clear framework for officers to ensure the tactic, for which there is a sound legal basis in some circumstances, is justified and recorded every time it is used. This has been coupled with additional training.”