West Mercia Police Constables Benjamin Monk and Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith arrive at Birmingham Crown Court to stand trial. PHOTO: PA
The trial heard on Tuesday that Atkinson, who played for Villa in the 1990s, went into cardiac arrest and died on August 15, 2016 in Telford, 30 miles from Birmingham, after a Taser was deployed for six times longer than is standard.Summarising what Monk, now 42, said to investigators, prosecutor Alexandra Healy told the court the officer was aware of a “loud row” taking place inside Atkinson’s father’s house.
Healy said Monk reported that he walked up to the former footballer and told him to stay where he was but Atkinson tried to get up.“At that stage, PC Bettley-Smith struck Mr Atkinson to his lower legs, but that did not work and so he , he says, delivered a single kick with his right foot to the area that he believed to be Mr Atkinson’s left shoulder,” said Healy.On further questioning, the court heard, Monk said he did not know where the kick landed, but he emphasised it was a single kick.