The European and Commonwealth gold medalist Bianca Williams and her partner Dos Santos received august visitor yesterday when they were visited by Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to tender Met apology.
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.”
Dame Cressida said she has asked a senior officer to review the Met’s handcuffing practices to make sure it hasn’t become a “default”, and has set up an “oversight group” looking at the use of force.
“Every time we see a video that is of concern we review them, we see if there are any lessons to be learned,” she told MPs.
Despite two reviews by the force’s directorate of professional standards, Dame Cressida said the Met has found no misconduct by its officers.
However, because of the public interest in the case, the force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Policing Conduct (IOPC).
A video after Ms Williams was pulled over in her Mercedes with her partner, international 400m-runner Ricardo dos Santos, apparently showing them being dragged from the car, was posted online by former Olympic medallist Linford Christie.
Ms Williams has said she believes officers racially profiled her and dos Santos, when they were handcuffed and separated from their three-month-old son.