Pc cleared of assault on man before he died
A POLICEWOMAN was cleared yesterday of assaulting an ex-footballer after he was tasered by her partner.
Pc Mary Ellen Bettleysmith, 32, was acquitted after jurors rejected the prosecution’s claims that she “lashed out” in anger at 48-year-old Dalian Atkinson shortly before he died.
She said she struck the former Aston Villa forward with a baton as a last resort in the early hours of Aug 15 2016.
Jurors deliberated for three hours and two minutes before finding her not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm following a retrial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Her original trial jury, last year, was unable to reach a verdict on the assault charge but convicted her partner, Pc Benjamin Monk, of manslaughter.
Monk, 43, who was in a relationship with Pc Bettleysmith at the time, was jailed for eight years in July 2021. Forensic evidence proved he had kicked Mr Atkinson at least twice in the head after tasering him to the ground.
The retrial was told the retired footballer was looking forward to private health treatment due to start on the day he was unlawfully killed.
He lost consciousness shortly after being tasered near his childhood home and died in hospital about an hour later.
Pc Bettley-smith and Monk had been sent to the scene to restrain Mr Atkinson after his mental state had become disturbed. Prosecutors alleged that while she had not contributed to Mr Atkinson’s death, she had lost her cool and “pummelled” a “defenceless” man with her baton.
She told jurors that she had used the baton because she perceived that the exfootballer still posed a threat of “serious harm” after he was tasered for a third time.
The officer, who is 5ft 5in and whose full-time service had begun just six months earlier, said she was left “shaking from head to toe” and was sure she would have been harmed if Mr Atkinson managed to get to his feet.
She said she desperately tried to control Mr Atkinson, who was “actively resisting and trying to get up”.
The family of Mr Atkinson said in a statement: “Whilst we are disappointed in today’s verdict, it brings an end to legal processes which have lasted over six years.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it is liaising with West Mercia Police about its next steps regarding potential disciplinary proceedings.
West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said she wanted to “extend my apologies and heartfelt condolences” to Mr Atkinson’s family.