VIDEO: Pc Monk filmed demonstrating 'one kick' to Dalian Atkinson during interview
The police officer convicted of killing ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson demonstrated to investigators just days after the fatal incident how he delivered “one kick” to the former sportsman, while he was on the floor.
Jurors in the trial of Pc Benjamin Monk, who was cleared of murder but found guilty of Mr Atkinson’s manslaughter, heard how scientific examination of bootlace-marks left in the ex Aston Villa striker’s forehead showed the police officer had actually kicked him twice.
Monk also claimed in the interview that he believed the kick was to Mr Atkinson’s “left shoulder” area, although evidence presented in court showed the blows landed on Mr Atkinson’s head.
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Monk was jailed for eight years at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors claimed during the trial that West Mercia Police’s constable Monk had used unlawful and unreasonable force during a third and final 33-second firing of the officer’s Taser, and by then kicking the ex-forward.
Mr Atkinson, 48, who had also starred for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town during his earlier football career, died about 70 minutes after the incident.
A two-and-a-half minute clip of Monk’s interview by investigators from the then Independent Police Complaints’ Commission, now the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and shown to the jury, was released at the end of the trial.
It took place on August 26, 2016.
The footage provided an insight into Monk’s recollection in the days immediately following the incident in Meadow Close, Telford, as it was recorded 11 days after Mr Atkinson died.
In interview, Monk is asked by the interviewer where he was stood on the night, with the officer then using two glasses from the table in front of him, recreating the scene.
He said: “This is his left shoulder here and I am stood there, so two paces away off his left shoulder.”
Monk was asked why he told another officer at the scene to “get back”, replying: “I had formed the opinion that the only way I could keep this man on the ground to ensure our safety: I was going to kick him. And that’s what I did.”
The interviewer then asked: “Could you describe to me the kick that you did?”
Monk replied: “It was basically right-footed.
“I pulled my right foot back, kicked him in the area which I believe to be is shoulder area with one kick.
“And the placement of the foot would have been on the laces. Like a football boot, if you’d imagine.”
Monk then stood up from the interview table, holding his right foot, standing back, and said “it was literally there”, pointing to the laces of his right boot, and again saying “there”.
When asked where he had “made contact” with Mr Atkinson, with the kick, Monk replied: “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
The interviewer asked which shoulder he had “guessed” he struck, with the officer of 14 years’ experience replying: “His left shoulder.”
The interviewer asked him: “And you said it was one kick?”
Monk replied: “One kick.
“To the best of my recollection, it was one kick.”
