Pc accused of Dalian Atkinson assault ‘terrified’ after taser failed

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. At the start of her evidence, defence KC Richard Smith asked Bettley-Smith: “Did you hit Dalian Atkinson with your police baton simply because you were angry with him?” Bettley-Smith answered: “I did not.” The 32-year-old officer also denied that she had used her baton “simply because she was told to” by Monk, telling the court: “I hit Mr Atkinson with my baton after the third taser. “I still perceived him as a threat so I used my police baton to try and keep him on the floor… to try and restrain him.” Asked what her principal emotion was at that stage, Bettley-Smith told the court: “I was terrified – very, very frightened.” Bettley-Smith told jurors she had a degree in social work from the University of Hull and that she had worked at a college supporting students with learning difficulties, before volunteering as a special constable. He looked like he wanted to fight.” Claiming an initial taser firing had no effect on Mr Atkinson, Bettley-Smith told jurors: “My expectation was that Mr Atkinson would go down or do something. Other things are quite blurry and some things I don’t remember at all.” The Crown alleges that Bettley-Smith struck Mr Atkinson several times with a baton “perhaps in anger” and perhaps because she was told to by Pc Monk.