The Metropolitan Police have provided the Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams with an apology after she and her partner were in their car that was asked to stop in order to undertake a stop-and-search.
The Met’s Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick has stated to a committee of MPs that her officers have visited Ms Williams in order to apologise for any “distress” that was caused by the stop. Dame Cressida told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “We apologised yesterday to Ms Williams and I apologise again for the distress this stop clearly caused her. I think all of us watching could empathise with somebody who is stopped in a vehicle, who has a young child in the back, who does not probably know what exactly is going on, and is subsequently found, together with her partner, not to be carrying anything illicit”.
However, the Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball told the same committee that there had been “good grounds” and was insistent that prior to the car being stopped the officers involved did not know who was in the vehicle. The officers involved were patrolling the Maida Vale area of London in response to an increase in violence that involved weapons. In addition to this the force also stated that the vehicle was seen driving suspiciously, which included on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver sped up when first asked to stop.
Ms Williams has said that the officers racially profiled her and her partner because they are black and were driving a Mercedes. Ms Williams has also said that she is considering legal action against the Metropolitan Police.
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Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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