A police officer accused of assaulting Dalian Atkinson, the former footballer who died after being Tasered by police, likely “lashed out, perhaps in anger”, a court has heard.
Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 32, of West Mercia police, is on trial accused of assaulting Atkinson in Telford in August 2016, when she struck him with her baton three times while he lay on the ground after being shot with a stun gun by another officer.
Atkinson, 48, who played for clubs including Aston Villa, was pronounced dead in hospital 90 minutes later. PC Benjamin Monk, who Tasered Atkinson for 33 seconds and kicked his head while he lay in the road, was convicted of manslaughter at a trial in June last year.
At the same trial, the jury was unable to decide whether Bettley-Smith was guilty of assault and she is now facing a retrial.