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The jury unanimously found that Benjamin Monk manslaughtered the former football player in August 2016.
A British police officer was convicted of manslaughter of former Premier League star Dalian Atkinson, a verdict called “historic” by activists.
The six-week trial in Birmingham was told that Benjamin Munch had fired three shots at Atkinson — including a 33-second shot, which was more than six times the standard 5-second duration — and laid him in bed. Kicked him twice in the head at the time. Grounded in the event of August 15, 2016.
On Wednesday, the jury took nearly 19 hours to reach a unanimous verdict on Munch. Prosecutors said Munch exaggerated the threat posed by Atkinson and lied in the incident to justify excessive and illegal force.
The trial was informed that the 48-year-old former Aston Villa player had a cardiac arrest after being taken away by an ambulance from the scene near his father’s house in Telford, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) from Birmingham. About an hour after he was electrocuted, he was pronounced dead in the hospital.
Munch’s other murder charge was cleared, and he insisted that his actions were legitimate self-defense.
The jury is still considering allegations of assault related to Munch’s colleague and ex-girlfriend, Constable Mary Allen Bateley Smith.
Atkinson’s death sparked a debate about the increasing use of Taser in a country where most police officers do not carry guns. Government statistics show that blacks are more likely to use stun guns than British whites.
After the verdict, the charity INQUEST stated that since 1986, no British policeman has been convicted of murder or manslaughter because of his death in custody or after contact with the police in England and Wales.
Director Deborah Coles said that this “historical” decision sent a strong message that police officers were not above the law.
“The death in Dalian is not an isolated case, but part of a systemic problem,” she said.
“For decades, black men, especially those in mental health crisis, have died disproportionately after the police used force.
“True justice requires structural changes throughout society and its institutions to address racism and better respond to mental illness and state violence.”
Atkinson “misses very much”
Atkinson’s family said the former football player “missed very much.”
“Now that the whole country knows the truth about the cause of death in Dalian, we are very pleased,” a family statement said.
“On the night of his death, Dalian was weak and unwell and needed medical assistance. On the contrary, he was subjected to violence, leaving the lace marks of PC Monk on his forehead.”
The statement added: “Although it is difficult for us not to talk about the details of Dalian’s death, it is even harder to sit down and pass this trial and hear PC Monk try to justify the force he used.”
Atkinson is a striker who played in the top league in England with Aston Villa on Wednesday in Sheffield. In October 1992, in Vera’s game against Wimbledon, he ran from his own half, avoided some challenges, then cut the ball to the goalkeeper and scored one of the most famous goals in the Premier League. One.
He scored 20 Premier League goals for Villa, and scored a goal in the 1994 League Cup final team defeating Manchester United 3-1. Atkinson also played for the Spanish Royal Sociedad, Turkey’s Fenerbahçe and South Korea.
In December 1993, Aston Villa’s Dalian Atkinson sat on the court during a game [File: Clive Brunskill/Allsport]
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