Team GB athlete Bianca Williams says she is now anxious whenever she sees a police car, in an emotional interview after two Met officers were sacked over a controversial stop and search of her car.
Ms Williams, 29, and her Olympic sprinter boyfriend Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, were pulled over in July 2020 as they drove home to their west London home after training.
The couple claimed they were racially profiled prior to the stop, when they were taken from the vehicle as their three-month-old son sat on the back seat and were handcuffed while officers searched for weapons and drugs.
PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks have now been sacked for gross misconduct after lying about smelling cannabis in Mr Dos Santos’ car during the stop and search.
In an interview with the BBC, Ms Williams broke down in tears as she said the experience has left her “on edge” with anxiety “through the roof”.
"It's just really hard, even just driving the car I'm always looking, I'm always on edge because who knows what they're going to do?", she said.
"Who knows if they're going to follow me and pull me over without Ricardo being there.
"Even if Ricardo is driving, and I'm in the front passenger seat, I'm always looking to see if there's a police car.
"If a [police] car has gone in the opposite direction, I'm always looking behind to see are they going to make a U-turn and follow us?
"I shouldn't have to live like that.”
The World Championships medallist said the incident, which sparked a social media storm, has eroded the confidence she previously had in the Metropolitan Police.
She pointed to the recent Casey Review, which found that the Met was institutionally racist, and said the findings had been “brushed under the carpet”.
"It's quite worrying for when my son grows up”, she added.
“If it hasn't changed for many years, is it really going to change now?"
Ms Williams, who is hoping to compete in the 2024 Olympics for Team GB, said she considered leaving the UK after the incident, and added: "We live in a world where we're supposed to feel safe and feel protected, but we aren't and it shouldn't be like that."
The police disciplinary panel spent weeks analysing evidence and video footage from the stop and search on July 4, 2020, before finding PCs Clapham and Franks guilty of gross misconduct.
Fellow officers Acting Police Sergeant Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey and PC Michael Bond were all cleared of wrongdoing.
The panel also concluded that the stop and search had not been racially motivated.
During his evidence, Mr Dos Santos revealed he had been stopped by police nine times within four weeks of buying a car in 2018, and suggested the stop and search in 2020 had been for "DWB - driving while black".
After the hearing, Mr Dos Santos claimed "very little has changed in policing in London since the Stephen Lawrence case" and accused the Met again of being “institutionally racist”.
“This case has taken a big toll on our family and on our careers, but it's crucial that those people who have a voice use it as those people who don't suffer without being listened to”, he added.
Following the misconduct ruling, Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: "Honesty and integrity are at the core of policing and, as the panel has concluded, there can be no place in the Met for officers who do not uphold these values.
"Mr Dos Santos and Ms Williams deserved better and I apologise to them for the distress they have suffered."
He added that the panel's findings highlight they "still have a long way to go to earn the trust of our communities, particularly our black communities, when it comes to our use of stop and search".
