PC's baton blows on Dalian Atkinson were 'excessive force'

PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith is accused of gross misconduct over her baton use against ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson on the day he died

A PC who repeatedly struck an ex-footballer with a baton on the night he was killed by her colleague used "excessive and unnecessary" force, a disciplinary panel has heard.

Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith denies gross misconduct over the manner in which she detained Dalian Atkinson in 2016.

The hearing was convened following her acquitted of a related charge at trial.

On day two of the separate disciplinary process, an eyewitness said the PC "seemed reluctant" in her actions.

But others said they could not understand why PC Bettley-Smith, of the West Mercia force, had brought down blows upon an already fallen Mr Atkinson, and suggested the actions were "violent and aggressive".

The officer was last year acquitted of actual bodily harm at retrial, during which it emerged she had struck Mr Atkinson - an Aston Villa striker in the early 1990s - three times by baton while he lay on the ground, having been tasered.

Mr Atkinson was said, following health issues, to have been in distress outside his father's house in Telford in August 2016 when police attended the scene.

'Panicky and frightened'

There he was kicked to the head and tasered by PC Bettley-Smith's colleague and partner Benjamin Monk.

Mr Atkinson died about an hour later, with Monk jailed in 2021 for manslaughter.

The disciplinary panel heard from an eyewitness that Monk was "stomping on Dalian's head".

Neighbour Jean Jeffrey-Shaw explained: "The female officer then took out her baton and began striking the fleshy part of his body, his thigh and buttock.

"I could not understand why because Dalian did not move after he went to the ground."

Mrs Jeffrey-Shaw added the female PC appeared to be "panicky and frightened, while the male officer looked calm, like he'd done this kind of thing before".

She also described how later Ms Bettley-Smith had tried to put handcuffs on Mr Atkinson, but his "hands were limp, floppy and lifeless".

Dalian Atkinson died after being tasered by PC Bettley-Smith's partner, Benjamin Monk

Another neighbour, Julia Shilton, told the hearing she had seen the officer "whacking the top of Dalian's legs".

She described the strikes as "like a jerking motion - she seemed reluctant to do it".

But a third eyewitness, Janet Lewis, said she saw PC Bettley-Smith strike Mr Atkinson "with substantial force".

"She appeared to be angry and this was clear from the strikes," she told the hearing.

"Even with my window closed I could hear the impact of the strikes on the clothing of Dalian's body.

"The officers still went on to strike him multiple times in a violent and aggressive manner, which made me feel sick.

"It was in my opinion excessive and unnecessary."

She added: "He was not resisting the officers and did not appear to have done so physically at any point."

PC Bettley-Smith could face immediate dismissal from the police if the panel rules against her in the hearing, brought at the recommendation of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Mr Atkinson started his career at Ipswich Town, before moving to Sheffield Wednesday, Real Sociedad, Aston Villa and Fenerbahçe in the 1990s.

The hearing continues.