Just Giving page raises more than £29,000 for two Met Police officers who were sacked over stop and search of Team GB star Bianca Williams and her athlete partner Ricardo dos Santos
A Just Giving page has raised more than £29,000 for two Met Police officers who were sacked over the stop and search of Team GB star Bianca Williams and her athlete partner Ricardo dos Santos.
The Portuguese Olympian, 28, and Team GB world championship medallist, 29, were pulled over and handcuffed as their then three-month-old baby son, Zuri, was in the back of their car on July 4, 2020.
PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks have since been sacked for gross misconduct after lying about smelling cannabis coming from their car. All allegations against three other officers were not proven.
But an online fundraising page was created at around 8pm yesterday ‘in order to support’ the two officers financially during the cost of living crisis.
The fundraiser, named only as ‘UK’, set £2,000 as its original target.
Ricardo dos Santos seen being handcuffed by Met Police officers after officers claimed they ‘smelt cannabis coming from their car’
Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos walking to speak to the media outside Palestra House, central London, after the judgement was given for the gross misconduct hearing of five Metropolitan Police officers
A Just Giving page has raised more than £29,000 for two Met Police officers PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks, who were sacked for gross misconduct
At the time of writing, it has raised £29,000, with its target now £50,000.
A statement on the page said: ‘This comes at a time of great austerity where both will be affected by mortgage payments, food bills and general cost of living.
‘Every penny will go to the support of the officers and their families.’
Among the hundreds of donations some have been made by people who say they are retired officers.
One anonymous donation wrote: ‘Serving officer – lost all desire to make a difference. No support. Go to work, do the bare minimum and go home again. No thanks if you go beyond, criticism from every angle for everything else.’
It comes after Mr dos Santos today accused the Met Police of stereotyping black people for smoking weed after he and his girlfriend Bianca Williams were handcuffed by officers who lied about smelling cannabis in a stop and search.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain today, Mr dos Santos revealed he had never smoked or had alcohol in his life, arguing the lie from police was an attempt to ‘make their search more viable’. He added that he believes they were followed because of the colour of his skin.
His comments came after Ms Williams earlier broke down in tears and said she is thinking about leaving the UK.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr dos Santos said: ‘I’ve never smoked in my life. I’ve never had alcohol in my life’
Sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos being stopped and searched by Met Police officers on July 4, 2020
Dos Santos says ‘What did I do? I’m at home’ as he gets out the car and has his hands pinned behind his back
Officers tell Dos Santos to ‘relax yourself’ as he continues to ask why he’s being restrained
The Metropolitan Police has since issued an apology to the couple for their distress
One of the Met Police officers seized Bianca Williams’ wrist as she got out of the car; three officers who faced disciplinary proceedings had the allegations dismissed as ‘not proven’
READ MORE: Tearful Team GB star Bianca Williams speaks out after two Met cops are sacked for lying about smelling drugs in stop and search
Mr dos Santos told GMB: ‘I’ve never smoked in my life. I’ve never had alcohol in my life. For you to open the car door and the first thing you say is ‘we can smell cannabis’… it’s a tactic that a lot of police officers use for regular black people because it’s a stereotype that they have that every black person smokes weed.
‘But in this case we are both professional athletes and we had a child in our car.
‘So again, I’m not going to have any form of cannabis, I’m not going to smoke cannabis with my baby in the car. For them to say it…’
He added: ‘It was an attempt to make the search more viable but clearly in this case they were wrong.’
PCs Clapham and Franks were accused of discriminating against the couple alongside fellow Met officers Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond.
The panel found it not proven that PC Clapham and PC Franks breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of equality and diversity but they were sacked for gross misconduct.
The Metropolitan Police has since issued an apology to the couple for their distress.
‘We didn’t really agree with the findings (of the tribunal) because for us it’s very black and white of why the police followed us but clearly the panel think so,’ Mr dos Santos said.
‘We believe we were followed based on the colour of my skin because they never saw Bianca in the car, they only saw myself.
‘But the panel said they couldn’t see me, that they just followed the car not the driver.
‘Moving forwards, with accountability, I don’t believe there is any.’
He believes he was seen, as he says he remembers the driver flashing him to allow him to take a right turn, claiming it was ‘head on’.
A photo posted by Bianca Williams on her Instagram account showed officers searching their car after they had been handcuffed in front of their three-year-old
An emotional Bianca Williams wipes tears from her eyes as she tells of how she has contemplated leaving the UK
Athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos speaking to the media outside Palestra House, central London, after the judgement was given for the gross misconduct hearing of five Metropolitan Police officers over their stop and search
Mr dos Santos said he didn’t agree with the findings of the tribunal as he spoke on GMB
The couple were handcuffed and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons after they were pulled over outside their property, but nothing was found.
Yesterday, the panel found PC Clapham and PC Franks had lied about smelling cannabis during the stop and search.
Chairwoman Chiew Yin Jones said their conduct had breached standards of professional behaviour in respect of honesty and integrity and thus amounted to gross misconduct.
The Met officers were part of a territorial support group unit who were tasked with helping to cut priority crime such as gang and knife offences.
PCs Casey and Bond and PS Simpson were found not to have breached any standards.
Yesterday an emotional Bianca Williams broke down in tears and said she is thinking about leaving the UK.
Ms Williams said it was the sad reality of being a black person in London and she has contemplated leaving her birth country as she is riddled with worry about the future and safety for her son.
In an emotional sit-down interview with the BBC, the young mother said it shouldn’t have taken three years for the misconduct hearing to conclude.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward from the Met Police has said in a statement: ‘The misconduct hearing panel, led by an independent legally qualified chair, has heard detailed evidence over five weeks to reach its conclusions.
‘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.
The couple were stopped by police when their son (centre) was in the back seat
Mr dos Santos and Bianca Williams at Palestra House in central London, where the verdicts were delivered
Ms Williams won a Gold medal for Team GB in the 4x100m relays at the 2018 European and Commonwealth Games
Ricardo dos Santos runs alongside Belgian Kevin Borlee and Ukrainian Vitaliy Butrym during the qualifiers for the 400m event at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin
‘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.
‘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.’
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