Footballer Taser death inquiry is under threat
JUSTICE DELAYED
AN INVESTIGATION into the death of former top footballer Dalian Atkinson after a clash with police has been thrown into doubt.
His family has told of their ‘agony and frustration’ at not knowing more than a year on why officers used force.
The ex-Aston Villa star, 8, died in August 2016 after he was shot with a Taser three times outside his father’s home in Telford, Shropshire.
Police said they responded to reports of concerns for a person’s safety. Atkinson is believed to have argued with and assaulted his father.
Two West Mercia officers are under criminal investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is also examining an eyewitness claim that Atkinson was struck by police and kicked while on the ground.
The officers have been interviewed under caution but the IPCC cannot decide whether or not to send a file to prosecutors because toxicology tests by Randox may need to be rechecked. Atkinson died at the scene despite the efforts of doctors who battled for 35 minutes to save him.
DRUG DRIVER APPEAL
A DRIVER who was high on liquid ecstasy when he crashed on a motorway causing his girlfriend’s death is appealing against his conviction.
Anderson Ward, 39, lost control of his car on the M3 near Winchester and smashed into the central reservation in November 201 .
It spun across the road and stopped sideways. Ward and Marie Hardes, 56, his girlfriend of 1 years, tried to get out. She was hit by a BMW and taken to hospital with serious injuries but died soon after.
A test revealed Ward, a painter, had liquid ecstasy in his blood and the crash was judged to be ‘preventable’.
He was jailed in February for six years after being found guilty of causing death by driving a vehicle while unlicensed, causing death by driving without due care while unfit through drugs, and possession of class B and class C drugs.
CAR KILLER APPEAL
A HIT-and-run driver high on cocaine and cannabis when he ran over a pedestrian is appealing against his conviction despite pleading guilty.
Matthew Bravender, 27, was doing 50mph in a 30mph zone when he hit Allan Strong.
The 52-year-old had been out in Salford, Greater Manchester, celebrating his birthday in April last year. Bravender sped off with his car windscreen smashed. When arrested later, he was found to be three-and-a-half times over the drug-driving limit. He had also smoked four joints of cannabis in the hours before the crash.
The father-of-four was sentenced in February to five years and four months after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the drug limit.
His appeal came after re-tests revealed the results in his case were unreliable.