Chrissie Hynde condemns 'aggressive' police stop of black athletes in London

The Pretenders singer, Chrissie Hynde, has described her shock at witnessing a “disturbing and aggressive” incident in which police stopped and handcuffed two black athletes who were driving home with their three-month-old baby.

The GB athlete Bianca Williams and her partner, Ricardo dos Santos, the Portuguese 400-metre record holder, who are both trained by the former Olympic champion Linford Christie, were stopped in Maida Vale, west London, on Saturday.

A video of the incident, posted on social media by Christie, has prompted scrutiny of the officers’ actions, with Williams accusing the police of racial profiling. On Monday, the Labour leader and former director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, said that he could not see justification for the use of handcuffs.

In a letter to the Guardian, Hynde said the incident “illustrates how out of touch the police in London have become. They pulled over a couple, made them step out of their car and were handcuffing them, surrounded by nine officers. The couple’s baby was left unattended in their car.

“The incident was disturbing and aggressive and the police van remained parked there for over an hour. The couple were innocent of whatever charges they were suspected of and eventually let go.”

Hynde said that there had been a surge of unchecked violence in the area over the past five years but police were now targeting the wrong people.

“For years there has been no protection at all on the streets, and now hordes of police are pulling over innocent citizens and causing real distress for no reason,” she wrote.

“Can the police get their house in order and start patrolling the gangs and leaving parents to do their shopping?”

Williams, 26, and Dos Santos, 25, who said he has been stopped numerous times by the police previously, are considering legal action over the incident. After nothing was found on their person or in the vehicle, no arrests were made and the pair were released.

In an updated statement on Monday, the Metropolitan police said the couple were both handcuffed “due to the officers’ views, as to the manner in which the vehicle was being driven, that the vehicle was attempting to evade police, and due to the driver refusing to leave his vehicle”.

It said the Directorate of Professional Standards had revisited the officers’ body-worn video and social media footage and remained satisfied that there were no misconduct issues.