Dalian Atkinson death: police officers to stand trial next September

Benjamin Monk is accused of murder and Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith denies assault

A police officer accused of the murder of the former Aston Villa striker Dalian Atkinson will stand trial in September alongside a colleague who denies assaulting the ex-footballer.

PC Benjamin Monk, 41, was not required to enter pleas to a count of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter during a pre-trial hearing at Birmingham crown court on Monday.

His colleague PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 29, entered a not guilty plea to a charge that she assaulted Atkinson occasioning actual bodily harm before his death on 15 August 2016.

Both officers were charged last month after a three-year inquiry into the death of Atkinson, 48, who went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance on his way to hospital.

Atkinson, who also played for Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, died after police used a Taser during an incident near his father’s house in the Trench area of Telford, Shropshire.

The judge, Melbourne Inman QC, granted the officers unconditional bail until a further hearing in May, and fixed a trial date of 14 September at Birmingham crown court.