Sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos ‘doesn’t feel safe’ driving in London after latest stop by police

Mr Dos Santos suggests he changed family car in bid not to be racially profiled by police, following series of incidents

A black sprinter pulled over by seven armed police says he no longer feels safe driving around London.

Met Police officers asked Ricardo Dos Santos to stop while he was driving through Paddington, central London, at around 4am on Sunday.

They said they were concerned that the sprinter, who represents Portugal, had been using his mobile phone.

Ricardo Dos Santos has criticed the police over the latest incident (BBC)

Mr Dos Santos said it was the third time he has been stopped by police while driving in two years.

Do you believe you are the victim of racial profiling by police? Contact matt.mathers@independent.co.uk

He and his wife Bianca Williams - also a sprinter and who represents Britain - were stopped in west London in July 2020.

Mr Dos Santos told Good Morning Britain on Tuesday he has been stopped twice since then and ‘multiple’ times before the 2020 incident.

The 27-year-old athlete said he had recently changed to an electric “family car” in an attempt to avoid being profiled.

When asked what he thought the reason was behind police pulling him over more than once, Mr Dos Santos said: “I can’t tell you why.

“I’ve recently changed cars. I’ve got a family car just so I can stand out a lot less, but I guess it’s not the car, it’s the person driving the car. They saw me, they thought that I was on my phone, but I proved to them that I wasn’t on my phone.”

Ricardo Dos Santos was pulled over by police in London while driving on Sunday (Getty Images)

The 400-metre runner posted dashcam clips of the incident on Twitter, expressing annoyance and accusing the force of over-policing due to the presence of seven armed officers.

On Tuesday, Mr Dos Santos said he continued driving for 2.4 miles after police signalled for him to pull over because he wanted to stop somewhere “safe”, “well-lit” and where there would be “people around”.

Mr Dos Santos said he had been holding his fingers to his face, and officers mistook this for him making a call.

When asked how safe he felt driving around London following the incident, he said: “I honestly don’t. I don’t feel safe at all.

“The first thing I said to myself when I saw the car was, ‘Is it going to happen?’

“And every time I do see a police car when I’m driving I think, ‘Is it going to happen this time? Will it happen this time? When is it going to happen again?’”

Mr Dos Santos was previously pulled over while driving with his partner, Team GB athlete Bianca Williams (PA Wire)

Mr Dos Santos said the officers’ behaviour changed when they realised he had a camera in his car, but did not specify how.

He said he would like police to “be aware of how people actually feel” when conducting searches.

The Met said the case has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is assessing the incident.

Five officers involved in the July 2020 search are facing gross misconduct proceedings more than two years on.

The couple were stopped in Maida Vale, west London, on the afternoon of 4 July 2020 while travelling with their three-month-old son in a car.

Both were handcuffed while Ms Williams, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was searched for weapons and Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos was searched for weapons and drugs.

Nothing was found during the search, a video of which went viral on social media at the time, and IOPC began a misconduct investigation in October 2020.