Two London police officers reinstated over stop and search of Black athletes

LONDON — Two former Metropolitan Police officers in London have been handed their jobs back and will receive back pay after winning an appeal against a ruling that they lied about smelling cannabis during a stop and search of two Black athletes.

The Police Appeals Tribunal concluded Friday that the original decision by a disciplinary panel a year ago that the officers, Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks, lied was “irrational” and “inconsistent.”

British sprinter Bianca Williams and her Portuguese partner Ricardo Dos Santos told the police watchdog that they were racially profiled by a group of police officers on July 4, 2020.

The couple were driving home in London with their 3-month-old infant son in the back seat when police followed their car and pulled them over outside their home. The athletes were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.

The appeals tribunal's chairman Damien Moore said Clapham and Franks were “dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers” whose reputations had been “ruined” by the original findings.

“Both officers did not lie,” Moore said. “Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back pay.”

Williams had filmed the original incident and the video was shared widely online. She said she hoped after the original hearing's verdict that it would lead to the Met being “more honest” about its “culture of racism.”

Dos Santos also said after that initial hearing that he believed he was accused of “bad driving, threatening violence and drugs” based on “racial stereotypes.” During the hearing, he accused the officers of detaining him for “DWB — driving while Black.”

The Metropolitan Police, the U.K.’s biggest police force, has been dogged by allegations of institutional racism and sexism for years.