Dalian Atkinson: PC 'frightened' when she struck retired footballer with baton

PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm

A police officer charged with assaulting retired footballer Dalian Atkinson shortly before he died told a jury she was "very, very frightened" when she struck him with a baton.

PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith said she hit the 48-year-old "to try to restrain him" in Shropshire in August 2016.

Prosecutors allege she angrily hit him when "no longer a threat" after being tasered by PC Benjamin Monk.

But PC Bettley-Smith denied acting unlawfully at Birmingham Crown Court.

England B international Mr Atkinson, who retired in 2001 after playing for clubs including Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday, died in hospital about an hour after being tasered in Telford.

Monk was convicted of his manslaughter last year.

The court has heard Mr Atkinson, who had health problems including kidney failure, had been acting out of character and smashed a window at his father's home in Meadow Close.

PC Bettley-Smith, who denies assault occasioning actual bodily harm, was giving evidence in her defence in the third week of a retrial.

Dalian Atkinson died in August 2016

Asked by defence KC Richard Smith whether she hit Atkinson "simply because you were angry with him?" she replied "I did not".

She also denied using her baton "because she was told to" by Monk, telling the jury: "I hit Mr Atkinson with my baton after the third taser.

"I still perceived him as a threat so I used my police baton to try and keep him on the floor ....to try and restrain him."

Asked what her main emotion was at that point she replied: "I was terrified - very, very frightened."

She said Atkinson looked "huge" during the incident.

"He just looked so angry. He looked like he wanted to fight," she added.

Claiming an initial taser firing had no effect, the West Mercia Police officer said: "My expectation was that Mr Atkinson would go down or do something. There was literally no reaction."

PC Bettley-Smith said after the first taser cartridge was fired by PC Monk, he said to run and that is what they did.

"All of this happened in such a quick amount of time. It's hard to put into words all these years later, but it was terrifying. You have had a taser fail.

"It was a very frightening experience. I think in my interview I said my life flashed before my eyes and that is still to this day a good representation of how I felt," she said.

She also told jurors she had never before drawn her baton during her duties.

The trial continues.