Chris is red hot
Judge lifts court ban over tragedy of ex Villa player
TWO police officers charged over the death of ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson were named last night.
Pc Benjamin Monk, from West Mercia Police, was charged with murder last week, while his colleague Pc Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
A judge lifted an anonymity order protecting the identities of the officers after a three-year probe into the former Aston Villa striker’s death.
Mr Atkinson, 48, died after police used a Taser near his father’s house in Telford, Shropshire, in 2016.
He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance on his way to hospital and medics were unable to save him.
The constables were given anonymity last week after a court heard that there were risks to their safety.
Lesser
But Judge Simon Drew QC gave permission for their names to be released at Birmingham Crown Court after hearing arguments from media organisations.
The Crown Prosecution Service said last week that Pc Monk, 41, had been charged with murder and with unlawful act manslaughter as an alternative offence which it said “is a lesser offence that a jury may consider if it first finds that the more serious charge has not been proved”.
Pc Bettley-Smith, 29, indicated she will plead not guilty to the charge of assault.
Speaking last week for Mr Atkinson’s family, solicitor Kate Maynard said: “Dalian’s family welcomes the decision to put the conduct of police officers before a jury but regrets that more than three years have passed since Dalian died.”
The case has been referred to the CPS to consider potential charges by the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog.
A plea and trial preparation hearing has been scheduled for December 9.