A Metropolitan Police constable carried out an “unlawful” stop-and-search on a black colleague who had just finished his shift at Buckingham Palace, a misconduct hearing heard.
Shaun Matthew had “no reasonable grounds, intelligence or evidence” to suspect Gary Williams might be in possession of drugs as he rode home on his bicycle.
PC Williams was in plain clothes and on a footpath when Matthew signalled for him to stop, but says he couldn’t clearly hear what was being said over the sound of his earphones.
However, he was shocked when Matthew ran up saying, “I told you to stop, why didn’t you stop?” before searching him and his rucksack without explaining the reasons.
PC Williams, who has over 24 years in policing, told the panel he believed he’d been profiled as a black man who was likely to be carrying drugs. Matthew only became aware they were both policemen with the finding of a Met warrant card in the bag.
Matthew was on duty leading up to the King Charles’s Coronation in May 2023 when he stopped several cyclists by signalling to them to stop, dismount and push their bikes down road closure paths.
He denied allegations he’d breached standards of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy, use of force and discreditable conduct to a gross misconduct level justifying dismissal.
But a panel chaired by Commander Nick John found him guilty only of misconduct for the search of PC Williams. He was given a written warning which will remain on his record for 18 months.
Matthew claimed he formed the opinion that PC Williams may be carrying drugs because he had failed to stop for him and stewards.
In hindsight, he admitted he should have asked more questions in order to properly establish the reason for stopping and searching the off-duty officer.
Cmdr John said: “The search was unlawful as there were no reasonable grounds, intelligence or evidence for the officer to suspect that PC Williams was in possession of a control drug.
“He had failed to treat PC Williams with the required respect and courtesy.
“Because the search on PC Williams was unlawful, this brought discredit to the police in the eyes of the public and in doing so, the public’s confidence in the police would be undermined.
“In reaching this decision, the panel were mindful that stop and searches as a tactic currently face public scrutiny and when officers carry out the powers unlawfully it discredits the organisation and policing in general.”
Matthew was cleared of a second allegation relating to the stop-and-search of another man, Imaad Ahmad.
Mr Ahmad had been wrongly suspected of smoking cannabis with a group of men outside Morden College before they went to mosque for evening prayers in March 2023.
Scotland Yard was approached for further comment.