Police officer cleared of assaulting retired footballer Dalian Atkinson before he died

A police officer has been cleared of assaulting retired Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson prior to his death.

Pc Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith was found not guilty at Birmingham Crown Court for assault leading to the death of the ex-footballer in Telford, Shropshire in 2016.

Jurors deliberated for three hours and two minutes before acquitting Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, who struck Dalian Atkinson three times with a baton after he was tasered to the ground by Pc Benjamin Monk, who was jailed last year for manslaughter.

Ms Bettley-Smith told her trial she was left “shaking from head to toe” and was sure she would have come to serious harm if Mr Atkinson had managed to get to his feet.

The 32-year-old told the jury she had used her baton lawfully as a last resort as she desperately tried to control Mr Atkinson, who she said was “actively resisting and trying to get up” at the scene in Meadow Close, Trench.

Following the acquittal, the trial judge John Butterfield KC told the jury: “You leave the court with my real thanks.”

The jury in the re-trial of Ms Bettley-Smith was given a majority direction after failing to reach a unanimous verdict.

After receiving a note from the jury at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge John Butterfield KC urged them to continue to strive to reach a unanimous verdict. But he added: “If you cannot do that, I can now accept a verdict on which at least ten of you agree.”

Prosecutors alleged West Mercia officer Ms Bettley-Smith angrily struck the 48-year-old when he was “no longer a threat” after he was tasered to the ground. But she denied she had acted out of anger while attempting to restrain Mr Atkinson in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire, on 15 August 2016.

“I thought he was trying to get up to fight,” she told the court. “In my opinion he was trying to get up on to his hands and knees.

“I was terrified of Mr Atkinson getting up. I was terrified to even get close to him because I thought I would come to serious harm if he was to get up.

“If I could have done anything to not use my baton that night, then I would have. There was no anger or losing my cool.”

Asked what her principal emotion was while beating Atkinson with her batton, Bettley-Smith told the court: “I was terrified – very, very frightened.”

Bettley-Smith told jurors she had a degree in social work from the University of Hull and that she had worked at a college supporting students with learning difficulties, before volunteering as a special constable.

She said that being told of Mr Atkinson's death had left her feeling overwhelmed and that the feelings had not got any easier during the past six years.

Prosecutor Paul Jarvis said Mr Atkinson, who had health problems including kidney failure, was a much-loved son, brother, father, partner and friend to those who knew him best.

PC Benjamin Monk, of West Mercia Police, was convicted of the killing after jurors reached a unanimous verdict at Birmingham Crown Court. The 42-year-old Tasered the ex-Aston Villa striker for 33 seconds before kicking him twice in the head “like a football”.

The 48-year-old retired footballer was rushed to hospital following the attack outside his father’s home in Telford, Shropshire, but died after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Following the jury’s verdict, Atkinson’s family said in a statement: “On the night he died, Dalian was vulnerable and unwell and needed medical attention. He instead received violence, and died with PC Monk’s boot lace prints bruised onto his forehead.”

Taser records showed Monk activated the weapon eight times for a total of more than 80 seconds using three Taser cartridges, culminating in a 33-second deployment more than six times longer than is standard.