Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been reinstated and will receive back-pay after winning an appeal against their dismissal following their stop and search of two GB athletes. Met PCs Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were fired in October 2023 after they stopped and searched the car of the British world championships medallist Bianca Williams and Portugal Olympic sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos.

The two men won their appeal after a previous ruling claim they had lied by saying they could smell cannabis during the stop and search in west London in July 2020. Dos Santos maintains he has never smoked or consumed alcohol in his life. Dos Santos described the appeal decision as "disappointing" and said he and his partner would challenge it in the civil courts. During the incident, the couple were pulled over by the officers and searched on suspicion of having drugs and weapons, but nothing was found.

The officers had followed Williams and Dos Santos as they drove home from training. They had their baby son in the car who was then three months old. Former officers PC Clapham and PC Franks were dismissed after a disciplinary panel found they had lied about smelling cannabis when they pulled over the athletes. However the ruling today was overturned by the Police Appeals Tribunal which found the original decision was "irrational" and "inconsistent."

The panel claimed the dismissed PCs were "dedicated, hard-working and much respected officers" whose reputations had been "ruined" by the original findings, Appeals Tribunal chairman Damien Moore said: "Both officers did not lie. Both officers will now be reinstated to the Met Police. They should receive back-pay." Hugh Davies, representing PC Clapham, said the officers had "every reason to suspect criminality" when they pulled Dos Santos over. Davies said another officer at the scene had smelled cannabis, but was not found to have lied.

In response to the appeal ruling, the Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Jon Savell, said: “We know this has been an overly lengthy and horrendous process for PC Clapham and PC Franks, as well as their families and colleagues." He added that the case had been "hard on all involved" and mentioned a previous apology from the Met Police to Williams and Dos Santos over the stop and search. "Ultimately, the evidence has shown that the stop and search and the actions of the officers did not amount to misconduct," Mr Savell said. "However, stop and search is most effective when used with the trust and confidence of Londoners." In a statement following the tribunal decision, Dos Santos said: "Our drive home from training in 2020, with our baby, should never have turned into a violent incident where we were wrongly accused of smelling of drugs," he said. "We are professional athletes, we pride ourselves on not doing drugs. We shall challenge today's outcome in the civil courts."