Dalian Atkinson: PC's fear 'through the roof' during arrest
A police officer charged with murder said his "fear was through the roof" when he Tasered an ex-footballer.
PC Benjamin Monk, 43, is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the murder of Dalian Atkinson in 2016.
As his defence begins, he told jurors he thought he and co-accused PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith "were going to die" when they responded to a callout to Mr Atkinson's father's home in Telford.
The former Aston Villa star died after the stand-off on 15 August that year.
The West Mercia Police officers were called to the address on Meadow Close at about 01:30 BST following reports from neighbours Mr Atkinson was acting strangely and claiming to be the Messiah.
PC Monk told the court the former striker was erratic, unpredictable and terrifying and that he ignored his warnings to stop when the officer pointed his Taser.
Twice PC Monk deployed his Taser unsuccessfully, telling jurors: "My fear was going through roof.
"It was the second time [the] device failed. I thought we were done for."
Asked what he did next, he said: "Ran for my life, we ran away," adding he had never done that before in his 14-year career.
"He [Mr Atkinson] was very, very scary," he said. "And the device which I thought might work for me, hadn't worked and I was terrified."
The court previously heard how Mr Atkinson pursued the officers down the driveway before smashing a pane of glass in his father's front door.
PC Monk said he and PC Bettley-Smith, with whom he was in a relationship at the time, "had to protect the man inside the house" and aimed his Taser at the footballer for the third time.
On the third Taser discharge, PC Monk overrode the system, holding down the trigger for 33 seconds - more than six times the standard deployment.
The officer, who had never previously fired the device, said he had no idea how long he fired his Taser for, but he felt "big relief" when Mr Atkinson fell to the ground.
PC Monk said he thought the sportsman, who also played for Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday during his career, was trying to get up, so he kicked him.
The court heard previously that PC Monk kicked Mr Atkinson in the head at least twice while he lay on the ground, with sufficient force to leave imprints of his bootlaces.
However giving evidence the West Mercia officer said: "At the time I thought I kicked him in the shoulder, there wasn't an intention to kick him.
"It was a desperate instinctive act. I thought he was going to get up and we were going to die."
PC Monk also denies an alternative manslaughter charge and his co-accused, PC Bettley-Smith, 31, denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The trial continues.
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June 03, 2021 at 01:12AM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-57331711
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