Bianca Williams: Ricardo dos Santos denies he routinely provokes police

Athlete Ricardo dos Santos has told a police misconduct hearing he does not routinely provoke officers.

Mr dos Santos and his partner, sprinter Bianca Williams, had their three-month-old baby in the car when they were stopped in Maida Vale, west London, in July 2020.

He told the hearing he "happily" laughed at the officers during the search, but did not provoke them.

Five Met Police officers have denied accusations of gross misconduct.

During the stop, the couple were handcuffed for 45 minutes, searched for weapons and drugs and separated from their son.

No weapons or drugs were found and neither of them were arrested.

The disciplinary hearing in south-east London was shown footage taken by the pair from within the car, in which Mr dos Santos could be heard laughing.

The 28-year-old told the panel: "I'm laughing because I don't know why I'm being stopped, because I knew that this stop would have ended up in them either just driving away or going away as all my other stops have happened.

"They make a big big deal out of everything... they search the whole vehicle, they say cannabis, they say drugs."

Mr dos Santos denied a suggestion that "the truth is you routinely provoke police officers", replying: "I do not provoke police officers.

"You will see that they came out from their van... in seven seconds they had their batons raised."

Mr dos Santos again denied provoking police officers in August 2022, when he was stopped by different Met officers while driving a Tesla.

It was claimed by legal representatives for the five accused officers that Mr dos Santos "provocatively undertook" a police vehicle during the incident.

But the athlete told the hearing that "every single Tesla car" has basic safety features.

"What the car does, the steering wheel shakes and you have to grab hold of it," he said. "It was either going into the back of the (police) car... or grab the wheel and go around it."

However, he wrote in a witness statement that his Tesla "automatically manoeuvred its way around the police vehicle to prevent a collision" because it was in self-drive mode.

The panel heard police contacted the electric car company and discovered Mr dos Santos' car would not have been able to change lanes and would not have undertaken when in self-drive mode.

Acting Sgt Rachel Simpson and PCs Allan Casey, Jonathan Clapham, Michael Bond and Sam Franks all face allegations that they breached police standards regarding equality and diversity during the stop and search.

Acting Sgt Simpson and PCs Clapham, Bond and Franks are accused of breaching standards over use of force and respect.

PCs Casey, Clapham, Bond and Franks also face allegations over the accuracy of their account of the stop.

They have said they believed the car was being driven suspiciously and have denied any wrongdoing.

The hearing continues next week.

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