Sprinter Bianca Williams calls on Met 'not to always target black people' after she was stopped and searched

Video report by ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia

A GB sprinter has called on the Metropolitan Police "not to just always target the black people" after she and her partner were stopped and searched.

Commonwealth gold medallist Bianca Williams has accused the Met Police of racial profiling after the incident in Maida Vale on Saturday.

She told ITV News the police should "have a bit of respect when they speak to you" and "to not be so aggressive."

Ms Williams added: "And not just always target the black people, you know, we're innocents, we've done nothing wrong.

"We're professional athletes, we train more or less everyday and we have a child to look after."

Former Olympic Gold Medalist Linford Christie at Buckingham Palace where he received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from The Queen. Credit: PA

Ms Williams described what happened to ITV News, she said: "I wasn't asked to get out of the car, I was pulled out of the car.

"I pulled myself back into the car because I'm not leaving my son in the car, I will own up to that, yes, I was pulling myself back into the car.

"I'm not leaving my baby alone in a car, it's wrong, it's wrong, I shouldn't have to do that." 

Footage of the incident was shared widely on Twitter after being posted by former Olympic medallist Linford Christie.

The clip appeared to show two people - a man and a woman - being pulled out of a car in a London street.

The woman says "he didn’t do anything" and officers can later be heard telling the woman to calm down after she worries about her son remaining in the car.

A male voice can be heard shouting in the background towards the end of the clip.

The video, shared on Saturday, was captioned with the note “racist police aren’t just in America”.

In a statement, the former Olympic 100-metre champion said: "Can Cressida Dick or anyone else 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 lead to such a violent confrontation and finally an accusation of the car smelling of weed but refusing to do a roadside drug test," she added.

The text also contained the hashtags BLM and MetPoliceRacist.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says he takes allegations of racial profiling “extremely seriously” and has raised the Ms Williams case with the Metropolitan Police.

Scotland Yard said officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have reviewed footage from social media and officers’ bodycams and were satisfied there was no concern around the officers’ conduct.

The force said in a statement that a car was stopped in Lanhill Road, Maida Vale, west London, on Saturday afternoon after it was seen driving suspiciously, and a 25-year-old man and 26-year-old woman were searched.

Commander Helen Harper said: “I understand the concern when incidents like this happen and how they can appear when part of it is filmed without context.

“Due to the concern raised, we conducted a review of the stop. This included social media footage and bodyworn camera footage of the officers at the scene.

“We are satisfied that there are no misconduct issues.”

Harper added: “Myself and Chief Superintendent Karen Findlay, who is in charge of the Territorial Support Group, are really keen to speak personally to the occupants of the vehicle to discuss what happened and the concerns they have.“We’re making efforts today to try to contact them but would also ask them to please get in touch as soon as they can.“The Directorate of Professional Standards reviewed the stop and were content there were no misconduct issues – today they have revisited the officers’ body worn video footage, social media footage and details of the incident to satisfy ourselves that remains the case.“However, that does not mean there isn’t something to be learnt from every interaction we have with the public.“We want to listen to, and speak with, those who raise concerns, to understand more about the issues raised and what more we can do to explain police actions.“Where we could have interacted in a better way, we need to consider what we should have done differently and take on that learning for the future.”