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

LONDON (AP) — Two former London police officers have been handed their jobs back and will receive back pay after winning an appeal Friday against a ruling that said they had lied about smelling cannabis during a stop and search of two Black athletes.

The Police Appeals Tribunal overturned the conclusion by a disciplinary panel a year ago that the two former Metropolitan Police officers — Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks — had lied. That conclusion was “irrational” and “inconsistent,” the appeals tribunal said.

The two athletes, 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 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 widely shared online. It shows her visibly distressed about being separated from her baby.

The Met, which is the U.K.'s biggest police force, came under heavy criticism after the footage was aired.

After the appeal decision, Dos Santos released a statement expressing his disappointment and said he and Williams will challenge the outcome in civil courts.

“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," he said.

“We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs," he added. “The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable."

The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents police officers, said Friday's ruling represented “yet another damning indictment" of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which first assessed the incident.

“Justice has been served," said Rick Prior, the group's chairman. “Why it ever got to this point however remains an absolute mystery.”

The Associated Press