Officers inVilla player death case named
A COURT order protecting the identity of two police officers charged after an inquiry into the death of ex-Villa player Dalian Atkinson has been lifted by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court.
Benjamin Timothy Monk from Shropshire, who was known as officer A in earlier hearings, has been charged with murder and Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, known as officer B, is charged with assault and actual bodily harm.
Mr Atkinson died after being Tasered near his father’s home in Telford, in Shropshire, in 2016.
Judge Simon Drew QC overturned the Contempt of Court Act order, allowing the naming of West Mercia
Police Constables
Monk and Bettley-Smith, after submissions by media organisations.
Both officers were present at the hearing, at which their lawyers agreed that anonymity could not be justified, instead arguing that their home addresses should not be revealed in media reports.
Last week, the West Mercia Police officers appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Both officers appeared before a deputy district judge.
Legal representatives applied for an interim court order, known as a Section 11 order,
barring the identity and addresses of both police officers.
Instead, they were referred to in court as Constables A and B.
Constable B indicated a not guilty plea to a charge of assault and she was granted bail to appear at Birmingham Crown Court later on Thursday.
Officer A was remanded in custody to appear at the same hearing and he was not asked to indicate a plea.
The officer charged with murder has also been charged with unlawful act manslaughter as an alternative offence which, the CPS said, “is a lesser offence that a jury may consider if it first finds that the more serious charge has not been proved”.