Header Image: Athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos
Former Met Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks won an appeal against a ruling that they lied by saying they could smell cannabis.
Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been handed their jobs back and will receive back-pay after winning an appeal against a ruling that they lied about smelling cannabis during a stop and search of British athlete Bianca Williams and her partner.
Former Met Police Pcs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were dismissed in October last year after a disciplinary panel found they lied about smelling the drug when they pulled over Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos and his partner Williams on July 4 2020.
The police had followed the athletes as they drove back from training to their west London home with their baby son, then three months old, in the back seat of their Mercedes.
On Friday, the disciplinary panel finding was overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal which found the original decision was “irrational” and “inconsistent”.
Former Pcs Clapham and Franks were “dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers” whose reputations have been “ruined” by the original findings, Appeals Tribunal chairman Damien Moore said.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Dos Santos said he now planned to challenge the outcome of the “disappointing” decision in the civil courts.
