Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been rehired after winning an appeal against a ruling that accused them of lying.
Former Met PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks claimed they could smell cannabis during a stop and search of British athlete Bianca Williams and her partner in 2020.
The pair were dismissed in October 2023, after a disciplinary panel found they had lied about smelling the drug when stopping the sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos and his partner Williams, reports the Mirror.
The finding has now been overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal which discovered the original decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.
Former PCs Clapham and Franks were described as “dedicated, hard-working and much-respected officers” whose reputations were “ruined” by the original findings, Appeals Tribunal chairman Damien Moore claimed.
“Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back-pay.”
Footage of the incident in west London went viral on social media after it was widely shared by their trainer and Olympic champion Linford Christie. The pair believed they were targeted by cops because they drive a Mercedes and are black.
However, police claimed their vehicle had been on the wrong side of the road and refused to stop when asked.
In a message addressed to the Met Police, Mr Christie wrote: “Two of my athletes were stopped by the police today, both international athletes, both parents of a three-month-old baby who was with them and both handcuffed outside of their home.
“Can Cressida Dick or anyone please explain to me what justification the Met Police officers had in assaulting the driver, taking a mother away from her baby all without one piece of PPE and then calling the sniffer dog unit to check the car over.
“Was it the car that was suspicious or the black family in it which led to such a violent confrontation and finally an accusation of the car smelling of weed but refusing to do a roadside drug test.
“This is not the the first time this has happened. (second time in two months) And I’m sure it won’t be the last but this type of abuse of power and institutionalised racism cannot be justified or normalised any longer.”
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