Police officer charged with murder of former Premier League footballer
Judge blocks publication of names of constables accused over Aston Villa star’s death
www.independent.co.uk
A police officer has been charged with murdering Dalian Atkinson, the former Aston Villa footballer.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed to The Independent that one constable from West Mercia Police had been charged with murder. A second officer has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The officers are due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court later today, and then at the city’s crown court, the CPS said.
But the CPS did not provide the officers’ names, against the standard practice when people are charged with crimes. Mr Atkinson, 48, died in August 2016 after being tasered outside his father’s home in Telford.
The star, who also played for Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital following a cardiac arrest. Relatives said at the time that he had suffered a number of health issues, and had a weak heart.
His case sparked a “lengthy and complex” investigation by the police watchdog. Speaking on behalf of Mr Atkinson’s family, solicitor Kate Maynard said: “Dalian’s family welcomes the decision to put the conduct of police officers before a jury but regrets that already more than three years have passed since Dalian died.”
Jenny Hopkins, of the CPS, said in a statement: “Following the death of Dalian Atkinson in Telford on 15 August 2016, the Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised a charge of murder against a West Mercia police constable. “A second police constable, from the same force, has been charged with assault causing actual bodily harm. Mr Atkinson’s family has been informed. “This decision was made following a careful review of all the evidence presented to us by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following an investigation.”
