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Cops sacked over arrest of Team GB star & partner DIDN’T lie & get jobs back

Cops sacked over arrest of Team GB star & partner DIDN’T lie & get jobs back

TWO cops sacked over a stop and search of British Olympian Bianca Williams and her partner have got their jobs back.

PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks successfully appealed against a ruling that they had lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over sprinter Bianca and fellow athlete Ricardo dos Santos.

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Footage showed the moment Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos were arrestedCredit: PA
The athlete couple complained they had been 'racially profiled' and vow to fight on

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The athlete couple complained they had been ‘racially profiled’ and vow to fight onCredit: PA

The pair will now receive back-pay and be welcomed into the Met following the controversial incident in 2020.

The two athletes were driving from training to their West London home with their three-month-old son Zuri in the back seat.

The couple were cuffed and their Mercedes searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.

The force came under fire after a video circulated of Bianca who was concerned about being separated from her young baby.

PCs Clapham and Franks were dismissed in October after a disciplinary hearing found they had lied about being able to smell drugs.

Their dismissal was yesterday overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal, which found the panel’s decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.

The pair were “dedicated, hard-working, much-respected” officers whose reputations have been ruined by the original findings, the ruling found.

Tribunal chair Damien Moore said: “Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated.

“The evidence was not good enough or strong enough to allow such a devastating conclusion. Being a police officer is a difficult job.

“Being one in London brings about its own challenges.”

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Hugh Davies, for PC Clapham, said the officers had “every reason to suspect criminality” when they pulled  over Mr  dos  Santos.

Responding to the ruling, the Metropolitan Police Federation said it represented “yet another damning indictment of the Independent Office for Police Conduct”.

Federation chair Rick Prior  said: “Justice has been served. Why it ever got to this  remains a  mystery.

“We are delighted the officers have  been  fully exonerated and their reputations rightly restored.

“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.”

Bianca won 4x100m relay  silver  at the Paris Olympics. Her partner is a Portuguese 400m sprinter who competed at   Tokyo 2020.

He called the appeal decision “disappointing”, adding: “We   pride ourselves on not doing drugs.

The actions and allegations of the officers were completely unacceptable.

“We shall challenge today’s outcome in  the civil courts.”

The couple were travelling back from training when they were arrested

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The couple were travelling back from training when they were arrestedCredit: Facebook/Bianca Williams
Bianca has won gold for Great Britain in sprinting at the Commonwealth Games

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Bianca has won gold for Great Britain in sprinting at the Commonwealth GamesCredit: PA