Taser fired at Dalian Atkinson was operating correctly, murder trial jury told
The Taser fired at Dalian Atkinson was working properly in tests carried out after the former football star’s alleged murder, a court has heard.
An authorised Taser download officer told the trial of Police Constable Benjamin Monk, who denies the murder and manslaughter of the ex-Aston Villa striker, that data was downloaded from the weapon after its use in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire, in August 2016.
The download officer, Sergeant Michael Waterworth, showed jurors the yellow X26 model Taser, held in a clear plastic exhibit bag, while giving evidence at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday (May 12).
Sgt Waterworth said he carried out tests to ensure that a single press of the trigger produced a standard five-second Taser cycle, and that a safety switch deactivating the weapon was working.
A third test was also conducted by Sgt Waterworth to ensure the Taser’s “extended” cycle – with the trigger pressed for longer than five seconds – was also functioning.
Jurors have heard that PC Monk is alleged to have fired the Taser at Atkinson three times – with the final deployment lasting 33 seconds.
After Sgt Waterworth described how he had downloaded data from the Taser on to a desktop computer at Shrewsbury police station, Alexandra Healy QC asked him: “Did the Taser appear to have been operating properly as far as you were concerned?”
The officer replied: “Yes, it was.” On the downloaded data, Ms Healy asked: “Did you notice anything about the length of the activations when you did that download?”
Sgt Waterworth responded: “Yes, it was a long cycle.”
Asked if the long activation period was something he was used to seeing during a Taser download, the officer said: “That’s very difficult to say.”
PC Monk, 42, is alleged to have intended to cause really serious injury to Mr Atkinson, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, after two initial uses of a Taser proved ineffective.
Another police constable, Richard Edward, told the court how he travelled with Mr Atkinson to hospital in the back of an ambulance.
PC Edward said officers had monitored the welfare of Mr Atkinson at the scene, including a check that handcuffs were not affecting the blood flow to his hands.
The officer, who removed the handcuffs at the request of a paramedic en route to hospital, told the court: “I was certainly concerned about the removal of the handcuffs.
“I recall in the ambulance the paramedic asked whether the handcuffs could come off. I explained that due to the level of aggression that had occurred prior, I was concerned that if I removed them he could pose a threat to ourselves in the ambulance.”
During the five-minute journey to hospital, the jury heard, there was a change in the paramedic’s concern over Mr Atkinson’s condition.
PC Edward said: “At that point I asked the paramedic if he would prefer the handcuffs be removed.”
The handcuffs, which had been applied to the rear, were then taken off and Mr Atkinson was rolled onto his back inside the vehicle, the officer said.
PC Monk’s colleague and then partner, PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 31, is also facing trial.
She denies a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
