Officer ‘killed former footballer with Taser and kicks to the head’
Police called over ‘bizarre’ behaviour of ex-aston Villa star who died shortly after force used to arrest him
AN “ANGRY” police officer caused the death of Dalian Atkinson, the former Aston Villa footballer, when he Tasered him for six times longer than the standard practice before kicking him at least twice in the head, a court heard.
Pc Benjamin Monk is standing trial for murder after discharging his Taser for 33 seconds, and Pc Mary Bettleysmith, his West Mercia Police colleague, is accused of assault for the use of her baton on Atkinson after he had been stunned to the ground.
The pair were in a relationship at the time, it was revealed in court yesterday.
Atkinson visited his father’s house in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire, at 1.30am on Aug 15 2016 to discuss a hospital appointment for his kidney disease. The former footballer had been watching Andy Murray compete in the 2016 Olympic Games before heading to his father’s house.
He had smoked a small amount of cannabis, the court heard.
His shouting in the street demanding to be let in woke some of the neighbours, one of whom was so concerned she called the police.
When Pc Monk, 42, and Pc Bettleysmith, 31, arrived, Atkinson was behaving in a “bizarre and erratic” manner and was referring to himself as “the Messiah”, the jury heard. A witness saw Atkinson walking away from his father’s front door towards the officers with his arms outstretched and his palms open. As he advanced down the driveway after two failed Taser attempts, Atkinson said: “I told you your thing isn’t working. I am the Messiah. You cannot hurt me.”
Pc Monk, 42, then attempted to Taser Atkinson a third time.
Alexandra Healy QC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The standard default setting of a Taser is a fivesecond phase, but it is possible to override that by continuing to depress the trigger.
Pc Monk continued to depress the trigger for over six times the length of a standard phase. The Taser was deployed for 33 seconds.”
When the former footballer was on the ground, Pc Monk kicked Atkinson in the forehead at least twice, leaving imprints of his laces on the skin, the court heard.
Atkinson’s head was “kicked like a football”, one witness said, and another witness said she saw 15 kicks.
Another Meadow Close resident heard a male officer shout at a female officer “f------ hit him”, while Atkinson was on the floor, the jury heard.
By the time back-up arrived, Atkinson, 48, was already on the ground and an officer saw Pc Monk’s foot on top of the star’s head or shoulder as he turned on to Meadow Close.
Five officers heard Pc Monk admit to kicking Atkinson. “I had to kick him in the head,” they heard him say.
The ambulance arrived at about 1.49am, and an officer waiting for the paramedics heard Pc Monk tell one of the medics: “He may be a bit bloody as I’ve had to kick him,” the Crown told the jury. Atkinson was loaded into the ambulance with his hands cuffed
‘Pc Monk continued to depress the trigger for over six times the length of a standard phase. The Taser was deployed for 33 seconds’
behind his back because police officers believed he was feigning illness, the court heard.
During the six-minute journey to the hospital, the paramedics requested the handcuffs were removed in order to treat their patient, and only then were they removed. When Atkinson arrived at hospital, he was still breathing, but he then went into cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 2.44am.
Pc Monk and Pc Bettley-smith drove back to Malinsgate police station after the ambulance had cleared Meadow Close. A senior officer spoke to them both and they were said to be “very shaken up and said they had been fearful for their lives”, the court heard. The officers told their superior that they had been so scared that they had actually run away from Atkinson before engaging with him. Pc Bettley-smith said that Atkinson had been shouting that he had killed someone, the court heard.
Ms Healy QC said: “In kicking Dalian Atkinson in the head not once, but on two separate occasions, Pc Monk was not, the prosecution say, acting in selfdefence or in defence of another. He was no doubt angry that he had been put in fear by this man.” Ms Healy told the jury that had it not been for the elongated discharge of the third Taser and the kicks to the head, the ex-footballer would have survived.
Atkinson had high blood pressure and heart disease as well as end-stage renal failure for which he was receiving dialysis.
Pc Monk was charged in 2019 with murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter after an inquiry into Atkinson’s death. Pc Bettley-smith is charged with actual bodily harm. Both deny all charges. The trial continues.