Police who stopped black GB sprinter may face sack
Officers face misconduct charges for stop and search of Bianca Williams and her athlete boyfriend
SCOTLAND YARD officers involved in the stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams are to face gross misconduct proceedings after a damning report concluded she and her boyfriend were treated differently by police because they were black, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
Ms Williams, a Commonwealth gold medallist, was stopped by police as she and fellow sprinter, Ricardo dos Santos, drove through west London with their baby son in July 2020.
The couple were handcuffed by officers who even placed their three-monthold son’s details on a safeguarding database.
Ms Williams and Mr dos Santos complained that they were victims of racial profiling and had effectively been stopped by police for “driving whilst black”.
Following the incident, which was filmed and placed on social media, Scotland Yard issued a defensive statement insisting its officers had done nothing wrong.
But The Telegraph has learnt that a highly critical report to be published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will conclude the couple were treated less favourably because of their race.
It is understood the report will also find there was no legitimate grounds for officers to place their baby son’s details on the Met’s Merlin safeguarding database, which stores information on children who have become known to the police.
The IOPC will also be highly critical of the fact the couple were handcuffed by officers – who claimed they could smell cannabis – while their baby son was left alone in the car.
If any of the officers involved in the search are found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel they could be sacked.
Six officers were initially placed under investigation for potential misconduct over claims they had failed to be courteous and respectful and also over their use of force.
The IOPC investigation was later upgraded to potential gross misconduct after the watchdog said new evidence had come to light relating to matters of equality and diversity.
Investigators have also been looking into claims that the accounts provided by the officers following the incident were inaccurate.
The damning findings are the latest blow to the Met’s reputation, coming after another IOPC report in February revealed appalling racist and misogynistic messages shared among officers based at Charing Cross police station.
The incident took place in the Maida Vale area of west London as the couple were driving their Mercedes in the middle of the afternoon.
The officers who pulled the vehicle over claimed it was being driven suspiciously and had been on the wrong side of the road.
Ms Williams denied the claim, insisting her boyfriend was regularly stopped by police without justification simply because he was black and drove an expensive car.
After footage of the incident went viral on social media, Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards reviewed the stop and search but insisted it could not identify any misconduct issues.
Dame Cressida Dick, the then commissioner of the Met, apologised to Ms Williams for any distress caused and said the force would learn lessons.
But the matter was referred to the IOPC after Ms Williams lodged a formal complaint.
A review of the use of handcuffs was launched in the wake of the incident, but is the claims of racial profiling by officers that will be most damaging for the force, which is struggling to build trust and confidence within the black community.