Court heard Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith struck Atkinson with her baton three times as he lay on ground
Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith arriving at Birmingham crown court on Wednesday.A police officer has been cleared of assaulting the former footballer Dalian Atkinson during an incident in which he was killed after being Tasered and hit multiple times.
Monk, 43, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for eight years at a trial last year, during which Bettley-Smith was also tried for assault, but jurors failed to come to a verdict on her charge.The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had recommended Bettley-Smith face a gross misconduct hearing over her use of force and it would be liaising with West Mercia police about any potential disciplinary proceedings.
Paul Jarvis, the prosecutor, said Atkinson’s “mind was disturbed” and he “was not acting like himself”, most probably because of a buildup of toxins linked to renal failure, the court heard. He was due to start private medical treatment for his condition later that day, jurors were told. “It is likely that Bettley-Smith lashed out, perhaps in anger at the fact Atkinson had scared her so much, or perhaps because Monk told her to because he was himself angry with Atkinson,” Jarvis told the court.The prosecution argued that while the incident would have been a “frightening experience” for Bettley-Smith, who was a probationary officer at the time, her use of the baton was unlawful as it was not in self-defence.
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