UK police have apologized to the family of Dalian Atkinson, a former black professional footballer who died in 2016 after receiving a 33-second Taser blast, British media reported Monday.
Dalian Atkinson, who played for Aston Villa in the 1990s (and, among other teams, Real Sociedad in 1990-91), died in August 2016 at the age of 48 after receiving multiple shocks from a pistol. electric pulse in Telford (central England), and two headshots on foot, following an incident near his father’s house.
Last June, a 43-year-old police officer, Benjamin Monk, was sentenced to eight years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
“A police uniform does not provide officers with immunity to act illegally or abuse their powers,” West Mercia Police Chief Pippa Mills wrote in a letter to the victim’s family.
“Ben Monk’s conduct was in direct contradiction to the standards and attitude that the police are supposed to serve, and understandably dealt a blow to public confidence,” he added in this letter, quoted by the PA news agency. .
Mills says she is “deeply sorry” and sends her condolences to Dalian Atkinson’s family.
The defense of the latter welcomed this measure and said they “hoped” that this case would deter other such situations and “would encourage those who hold the police to account.”
Benjamin Monk is the first serving police officer convicted of murder or manslaughter since 1986, according to the NGO INQUEST.
Last summer, British police criticized the “disproportionate use” of the Taser against black or vulnerable people, and called on law enforcement to change the way they use the weapon or lose its “legitimacy”.