A woman who has known Dalian Atkinson since he was a baby told a court she feared he was dead after a police officer repeatedly “dabbed” the former footballer’s head.
Jean Jeffrey-Shaw said she had to look away because the ex-Aston Villa striker was on the ground in August 2016 because it was “too much” for her.
Police were called after Mr Atkinson was heard screaming on the street in Meadow Close, Telford, waking one of the neighbors.
The prosecution alleges that PC Benjamin Monk murdered Mr Atkinson by kicking him in the head at least twice, while PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith allegedly beat his baton in anger.
Monk, 42, denies the murder and manslaughter, while Bettley-Smith, 31, denies the assault.
Ms Jeffrey-Shaw was among several eyewitnesses from Meadow Close who testified in Birmingham Crown Court.
She lived next to Mr Atkinson’s father, Ernest, for over 50 years.
Benjamin Monk, right, and Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, left
Ms Jeffrey-Shaw said that after seeing two police officers walking “with purpose” nearby and hearing a falling sound, she saw a man in the street – whom she mistakenly believed to be Mr Atkinson’s nephew – fall to the ground behind a car.
“One of the officers was saying ‘keep your head down’ and banging on his head,” she said.
“The man lifted his knee and punched. Once he hit him so hard I had to look away. I couldn’t stand it. He went boom, boom, boom.”
Claiming that the man on the ground had been stepped on “several times more than once”, Mrs Jeffrey-Shaw added: “I said to my husband:” He is not moving, why is he telling him to keep the head down? “
“I thought he died, because he was not moving,” she added.
Ms Jeffrey-Shaw said the female officer appeared to be scared.
“After hitting on the head, the lady panicked but the other policeman was calm,” she told the court.
Questioned by the QC prosecutor …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-06 19:21:00
