Benjamin Monk, the police officer who was convicted of the manslaughter of former Town striker Dalian Atkinson last week, has been jailed for eight years.
Atkinson died aged 48 in the early hours of Monday 15th August 2016 having been repeatedly Tasered and kicked by Monk in an incident outside his father Ernest’s house in the Trench area of Telford.
Monk was sentenced by Judge Melbourne Inman QC at Birmingham Crown Court earlier today.
The 43-year-old, who had been with the West Mercia force since 2002, became the first British police officer to be convicted of manslaughter during the course of his duties in more than three decades when he was found guilty last on Wednesday of last week.
"You have let yourself and the force down,” Judge Inman said. "Although they were difficult, you failed to act appropriately in the circumstances as they developed, and you used a degree of force in delivering two kicks to the head, which was excessive and which were a cause of Mr Atkinson’s death.
"The obvious aggravating factor is that you committed this offence while on duty as a police officer.”
Earlier this week it emerged that Monk had been found guilty of gross misconduct in 2011 and given a final warning having failed to declare cautions for theft and being found drunk prior to joining the force.
In a statement, Atkinson’s siblings Paul, Kenroy, Elaine and Otis, said: "PC Monk used horrendous violence against Dalian, who was in an extremely vulnerable position, in mental health crisis, and needed help.
"This was a callous attack and a terrible abuse of a police officer’s position of trust.
"He then failed to give a full and honest account of what happened, including at his trial.
"We are pleased that all these factors have been reflected in the sentence.
"We were shocked to learn that PC Monk was not sacked in February 2011 for gross misconduct for his dishonesty; he should never have been working for the police in August 2016 and Dalian should not have died.
"We pay tribute to all the bereaved families of black men who have died at the hands of the police and whose fight for justice has not led to successful prosecutions.
"It shouldn’t take the death of a famous footballer for the criminal justice system to work properly and we hope that more families can secure justice in future regardless of whether the deceased is a high-profile person.”
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on PC Mary-Ellen Bettley-Smith who was accused assaulting Atkinson with her baton.