Met cops sacked over arrest of Team GB athlete & Olympian partner in front of baby son are REINSTATED with back pay
TWO Met officers sacked over the arrest of a Team GB athlete and her partner in front of their baby son have been reinstated with back pay.
The officers were seen in a bodycam clip surrounding Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos’ Mercedes near his home in West London.
He was handcuffed and searched on suspicious of having drugs, along with his partner, Team GB athlete Bianca Williams.
Nothing was found during the search, which was at the centre of a police misconduct hearing into the five Met officers.
PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks were sacked after being found guilty of gross misconduct.
The panel found they breached standards of professional behaviour in relation to honesty and integrity and were “untruthful” in their allegations they smelled cannabis coming from the couple’s car.
But the finding has now been overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal, which found the original decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.
Chairman Damien Moore said the “much-respected” officers were both “dedicated and hard-working” but their reputations had been “ruined” by the original findings.
He added: “Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back-pay.”
Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, welcomed the decision, saying “justice has been served”.
He also questioned the “absolute mystery” of the original ruling and said the force were “delighted” for PC Clapham and PC Franks.
The chair added: “This result is yet another damning indictment of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Who holds them to account for what was a political witch hunt against two hard-working police officers?
“Our colleagues have been dragged through hell and back for four years. For doing nothing more or less than the job the public of London expect us to do.”
But Dos Santos, who competed for Portugal in the 400m sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, said the decision was “disappointing”.
He also said he and Williams would be challenging the outcome.
The sprinter added: “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.
“We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs.
“The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable.
“The IOPC were clear that all four officers lied.”
Footage showed the officers swarming the Mercedes before one raised a baton above their shoulder and screamed at Dos Santos to “get out” the car.
A female officer was heard yelling “there’s a baby in the car” as a confused-looking Dos Santos asks: “What did I do?”
Dos Santos and Williams, a gold medallist in the 4x100m relays at the 2018 European and Commonwealth Games, made a complaint to the police watchdog saying they were racially profiled in the arrest.
PC Clapham and PC Franks denied the accusations alongside Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond.
PCs Casey and Bond and PS Simpson were cleared of the claims previously.