Policewoman accused of using excessive force on Dalian Atkinson was ‘brave’, panel told

Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, known as Ellie to colleagues, was acquitted in September 22 after a jury cleared her of the assault occasioning actual bodily harm of Dalian Atkinson, 48.

Benjamin Monk, a former colleague of Bettley-Smith, is currently serving eight years in prison for the manslaughter of Mr Atkinson, a retired striker with Aston Villa and Manchester City.

At a professional conduct hearing at the Ramada Hotel in Telford where she is accused of gross misconduct, a panel heard on Monday how PC Bettley-Smith was accused of using force "beyond that seen as reasonable and proportional" during the arrest of Mr Atkinson.

The former professional footballer died after being arrested in Meadow Close in the Trench area of the town, outside the home of his father, in the early hours of August 15, 2016.

He had been suffering "the throes of a mental health crisis" before he was Tasered three times by PC Benjamin Monk, before the disgraced police officer then kicked Mr Atkinson twice in the head.

Mr Atkinson died in hospital around an hour after being kicked and incapacitated by the Taser.

Dijon Basu KC, representing West Mercia Police which is accusing Bettley-Smith of gross misconduct, told the panel that PC Monk and PC Bettley-Smith, who was a probationary officer at the time, were the first members of the force in attendance on the night of Mr Atkinson's death.

He said: "Police were called following reports a man was behaving very bizarrely outside the home of Mr Atkinson's father. He was in the throes of a mental health crisis."

Mr Basu said that PC Monk had discharged his Taser three times, incapacitating Mt Atkinson, before kicking him in the head, as Bettley-Smith struck the former footballer with her baton.

He said: "PC Bettley-Smith struck Mr Atkinson at least six times using as much force as she could."

Mr Basu said her blows not only caused bruising but would have led to "a degree of pain", and he added that at least three of the blows came after Mr Atkinson had been kicked in the head.

"She had time and the opportunity between each strike to reassess," Mr Basu said.

He told the hearing, which is expected to last five days, that police officers were "subject to a statutory code of conduct" that stated that they "can only use force if it is necessary and proportionate."

"The blows [by PC Bettley-Smith] did not in any way contribute to the death of Mr Atkinson, but the blows came after Benjamin Monk kicked Mr Atkinson in the head," he said. "We believe Bettley-Smith did not need to use force."

Patrick Gibbs KC, representing Bettley-Smith, said: “She does not accept she misconducted herself grossly – or at all.

“She denies her conduct breached standards of professional behaviour, on a fair view of this sad but terrifying incident.

“Quite the contrary is true; she showed bravery under extreme pressure and was in no way responsible for the tragic outcome.”

He added Bettley-Smith “did her probationary best in unusually challenging circumstances to contain, control and detain Dalian Atkinson – a normally peaceful man, who, because he was the grip of florid psychosis, presented that night as a serious, immediate danger to his father, the public, responding officers and himself”.

The officer did “as she was trained to do” and her blows were “neither gratuitous, nor disproportionate”.

The hearing continues.