Dalian Atkinson: Police officer who killed ex-footballer jailed for eight years

A police officer who unlawfully killed Dalian Atkinson by tasering him to the ground and kicking him in the head has been jailed for eight years.

PC Benjamin Monk was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter after jurors heard he left two bootlace imprints on the former Premier League star’s forehead – following an “excessive” 33-second Taser deployment.

Monk’s six-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told he was “not honest” after the death of the former Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town striker, claiming to have aimed a single kick at the victim’s shoulder.

Mr Atkinson, who had smashed a window while suffering a mental health crisis, died in hospital around an hour after an ambulance was called to the scene near his father’s home in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire, on August 15 2016.

According to the charity Inquest, Monk is the first police officer in England and Wales to be found guilty of unlawful killing over a death in custody or following police contact since 1986.

Monk, who denied murder and manslaughter, claimed to have acted in reasonable self-defence while “terrified” of 48-year-old Mr Atkinson, who had a heart condition, was undergoing dialysis treatment, and was smaller and lighter than the officer.

But images of two separate areas of head injury accepted to match Monk’s bootlaces were uncovered by forensic examinations using polarised light, proving his account was false.

As well as the marks to both sides of Mr Atkinson’s forehead, a pathologist found 15 areas of “under-the-skin” bruising, including marks to his neck, shoulder, shoulder blade, flank, buttock, thigh, bicep, elbow and shin.

It emerged on Monday Monk had been found guilty of gross misconduct five years before he killed Mr Atkinson, after failing to mention two cautions on his application form to join the West Mercia force in 2001.

The court heard he kept his job in February 2011 – a year after details of the cautions came to light – despite being found to have breached required standards for honesty and integrity.

Addressing the court on Monday, prosecutor Alexandra Healy QC said: “Mr Monk was cautioned for theft from a shop as an employee – he was employed at the time at Woolworths in 1997.

“There was a further caution in 1999 for being found drunk.”

The court was told the warnings were not recorded on a computer system because of policies at the time for dealing with spent cautions.

Reacting to the verdict against Monk last week, West Mercia Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said she was “sincerely sorry” and offered her “deep condolences” to Mr Atkinson’s family, who had “demonstrated great dignity and strength throughout”.

She added the force had “much to do” to “strengthen those bonds” with the communities it served.