Former footballer Dalian Atkinson died after being tasered and kicked by police officer, jury told

Former Aston Villa striker Dalian Atkinson died following being tasered and kicked in the head by an “angry” police officer, a murder trial jury has heard.

West Mercia Police Constable Benjamin Monk is being tried at Birmingham Crown Court for the murder and manslaughter of the 48-year-old ex-footballer, who died following an altercation with Monk in 2016.

Monk was charged following a three-year enquiry into Atkinson’s death and denies the charges levelled at him.

He is being tried alongside PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, who was present at the altercation in Telford, Shropshire, in which Atkinson was tasered at his father’s home.

Opening the case against the officer on Tuesday, May 3, prosecution counsel Alexandra Healy alleged that Atkinson was tasered for 33 seconds - a length more than six times the standard of five seconds.

The court was told that Atkinson, who had serious health problems, moved towards the officers after they were called to a disturbance at Atkinson’s father’s home around 1.30am on August 15, 2016.

The jury were told that Atkinson was tasered three times after coming to the door acting erratically, with the third attempt causing him to fall to the ground.

Prosecution then outlined how PC Monk continued to taser Atkinson, depressing the trigger “for over six times the length of a standard five-second phase”.

The prosecution counsel added: “PC Monk also proceeded to kick Dalian Atkinson.

“At least two kicks were delivered by him to Dalian Atkinson’s forehead with enough force to leave the imprints of the pattern of the laces from the top of his boot on two separate areas of Mr Atkinson’s forehead.”

Healy said Bettley-Smith, accused of occasioning actual bodily harm on Atkinson, struck the former footballer with her baton a number of times while he was lying on the ground.

The prosecution said although pathologists agreed his underlying health conditions meant Mr Atkinson was "at a greatly increased risk of dying", he wouldn’t have died "were it not for the third Taser deployment and the kicks to his head".

While they say that officers were “entitled to use reasonable force to defend themselves or protect another”, the prosecution told the jury that their behaviour following the deployment of the third taser was “not reasonable”.

The trial continues at Birmingham Crown Court.