{"id":19153,"date":"2021-06-23T10:51:44","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T14:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=19153"},"modified":"2021-06-23T10:51:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T14:51:44","slug":"dalian-atkinson-pc-guilty-of-former-footballers-manslaughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/06\/23\/dalian-atkinson-pc-guilty-of-former-footballers-manslaughter\/","title":{"rendered":"Dalian Atkinson: PC guilty of former footballer’s manslaughter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A police officer has been found guilty of the manslaughter of ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The former Aston Villa striker died after a stand-off with West Mercia police officers outside his father’s home in Telford, Shropshire in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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PC Benjamin Monk, 43, was cleared at Birmingham Crown Court of an alternative charge of murder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Atkinson’s family said justice had been done and hoped he would be remembered for his life, not his death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Monk’s trial had heard he tasered Mr Atkinson for 33 seconds and kicked him twice in the head.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He denied any wrongdoing and said he believed there was a danger to life for him and his colleague.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PC<\/span><\/div>
PC Benjamin Monk was found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Atkinson but cleared of his murder (Image: PA Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Atkinson began his career at Ipswich Town before moving to Sheffield Wednesday, Real Sociedad and Aston Villa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Following a six-week-trial, jurors took 18 hours and 48 minutes to reach unanimous verdicts on Monk, who has 14 years’ service.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, Mr Atkinson’s family said he was “much missed” by his family and friends and the footballing communities of the clubs he played for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The past five years have been an ordeal for Dalian’s family,” they said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are hugely relieved that the whole country now knows the truth about how Dalian died.<\/p>\n

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“While it has been hard for us not to be able to talk about the details of Dalian’s death, it has been even harder to sit through this trial and to hear PC Monk try to justify the force he used.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They said his footballing talent “led him to achieve great things in his life”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Our sincere hope is that now that the truth about his death is known, and justice has been done, we can start to remember him not for the manner in which he died, but for the way in which he lived,” the statement added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Dalian<\/span><\/div>
Atkinson started his career at Ipswich Town, before moving to Sheffield Wednesday, Real Sociedad, Aston Villa and Fenerbah\u00e7e (Image: Ipswich Town)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Jurors are still deliberating on an assault charge relating to Monk’s colleague and former girlfriend, PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 31.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The trial heard how the two officers were called to Mr Atkinson’s father’s house in Meadow Close in the early hours of 15 August, where the the sportsman had been acting erratically.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Monk told the court he ran in fear after Mr Atkinson, who appeared to be having a mental health crisis, made death threats and smashed a glass door pane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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