Dalian Atkinson: Blood on PC's boot showed force, murder trial told

Dalian Atkinson died aged 48 on 15 August 2016

Bloodstaining found on the boot of a police officer accused of a former footballer's murder was consistent with being caused by "forceful" contact, a forensic scientist says.

PC Benjamin Monk used unlawful force on Dalian Atkinson, 48, before he was handcuffed near his father's home in Shropshire in 2016, prosecutors claim.

Forensic scientist Penelope Griffiths showed a court staining to his boots.

PC Monk, 42, denies murder and manslaughter.

Mr Atkinson died in hospital on 15 August, after police were called to a disturbance at the home in Meadow Close, Telford.

PC Monk, an officer with West Mercia Police, is alleged to have intended to cause really serious injury to the former Aston Villa star, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, after initial uses of a Taser proved ineffective.

Blood matching the ex-footballer was found on the laces and tongue of the officer's right boot and the instep area of his left boot, the trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told.

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Ms Griffiths showed jurors staining to PC Monk's boots, which were exhibited in a clear plastic bag.

Prosecution QC Alexandra Healy asked the forensic scientist to show where she had found contact bloodstaining on the officer's footwear.

The witness said: "If you look at the diamond shape where the laces cross, that is where the bloodstain is... and underneath the laces on the tongue itself."

Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith (L) and Benjamin Monk (R) have been charged

Spots and splashes of blood were also found on PC Monk's boots, Ms Griffiths said, adding: "If you have forceful contact with a surface... blood would be forced away from the site of that impact in the form of small airborne droplets.

"If you have contact staining and spots and splashes radiating away, that indicates that the boot has had a forceful contact with a surface."

Earlier in the trial, the officer's QC, Patrick Gibbs, said it was not in dispute that the defendant must have kicked Mr Atkinson twice in the head, as it was "the only explanation" for marks found on his forehead.

PC Monk's colleague and then partner, PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 31, is also facing trial.

PC Bettley-Smith, who is alleged to have used a police baton unlawfully after Mr Atkinson was tasered, denies a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.