Dalian Atkinson: officer accused of assault ‘lashed out’, court told

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.

Monk, who was in a relationship with Bettley-Smith at the time, was heard shouting to her “fucking hit him” during the incident, the court was told.

Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, said at the opening of the trial at Birmingham crown court on Tuesday: “Bettley-Smith unlawfully struck Atkinson more than once with her baton to the back of his body as he lay on the ground, thereby causing bruising that amounted to actual bodily harm.”

Bettley-Smith, who was a probationary officer at the time, is not accused of being responsible for Atkinson’s death, but the prosecution argues her strikes were unlawful.

The defendant does not deny hitting Atkinson, but claims she “genuinely believed that Atkinson posed a threat to her and to Monk at the time she hit him”, the prosecution said.

Atkinson, who retired from football in 2001, had a number of serious health conditions in the years leading up to his death. He was on dialysis for