Athlete Bianca Williams ‘shocked’ at £130,000 raised for Met officers sacked for stop-and-search

The Team GB athlete said she had 'gotten so much hate' after two officers lost their jobs
Bianca Williams outside Palestra House for the gross misconduct hearing of Metropolitan Police officers (Picture: PA)
PA
Jordan King30 October 2023

Bianca Williams said it is ‘shocking’ that more than £130,000 has been raised for the officers who were fired over their stop-and-search of her and her partner.

Thousands of supports have donated money to Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks, who were fired without notice for how they dealt with Ms Williams and Portuguese Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos in July 2020.

Ms Williams, a Team GB athlete, told the BBC’s Radio 4's Woman's Hour: "I feel like everyone has a right to do a crowdfund but in the circumstances it's quite shocking, saying they shouldn't have lost their jobs.

"But they lied and there has to be a punishment - they lost their jobs for that."

The JustGiving page for the officers states that the donations have been a “huge comfort” and have “genuinely made a difference”.

The page has now removed all comments “to respect the impending appeal”.

But messages from before had described the situation as “scandalous appeasement and scapegoating” and called to “stop destroying this once great police service the envy of the world”.

Ms Williams said she and Mr Dos Santos have been “trolled” by the public since a disciplinary hearing found Mr Clapham and Mr Franks had lied about smelling cannabis in the couple’s car.

She said:  "I'm glad people can see that they were lying but it's one where we've gotten so much hate from the officers now losing their jobs. "We're getting blamed, people are saying it wasn't a racist situation, it wasn't a racist attack. We were trolled in 2020, but now it's 10 times worse."

But Ms Williams does not regret reporting what happened to her. She added: "We are doing this to help the next person because it's going to happen again."

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.

During his evidence, Mr Dos Santos accused the officers of detaining him for “DWB, driving while black”.

The hearing was told Mr Dos Santos was stopped nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018.

Ms Williams cried as she watched footage of Mr Dos Santos getting pulled from the driver’s seat to the roadside and handcuffed.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said the couple “deserved better and I apologise to them for the distress they have suffered”.

He said: “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.”

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