Dalian Atkinson: Jurors consider verdicts for murder-accused PC

Dalian Atkinson died on 15 August 2016 aged 48 after a confrontation with police

Jurors have retired to consider their verdict in the trial of a police officer charged with murder.

PC Benjamin Monk, 43, is accused of using excessive force when he arrested former Aston Villa striker Dalian Atkinson in Shropshire in 2016.

His three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how he tasered the footballer in Telford for 33 seconds and kicked him twice in the head.

PC Monk denies murder and said he believed there was a danger to life.

PC Benjamin Monk denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter

His co-accused West Mercia Police colleague, PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 31, denies assaulting Mr Atkinson.

She defended her decision to use her baton after Mr Atkinson, 48, had been incapacitated by PC Monk's Taser at about 01:30 on 15 August 2016, arguing he still posed a threat.

PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith denies using her baton to illegally strike Mr Atkinson

Jurors heard how events unfolded at Mr Atkinson's father's house in Meadow Close that night and how the sportsman had been acting erratically, prompting concerned neighbours to call police.

Mr Atkinson, who also listed Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town among his former clubs, "had not been in his right mind" his father, Ernest, would later tell police, and he claimed to be the Messiah.

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When PCs Monk and Bettley-Smith arrived, they told jurors they deployed force in self defence, scared of Mr Atkinson who was described as "irrational and aggressive" by their defence.

Dalian Atkinson played for Aston Villa, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday during his career

The prosecution's case is that the officers deployed their weapons in anger after being "put in fear" of him and that their actions went beyond self defence.

The former footballer had a number of underlying health conditions and died later that morning in hospital.

PC Monk denies murder as well as an alternative charge of manslaughter. PC Bettley-Smith denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm.