Former Premier League footballer Dalian Atkinson attempted to murder his 85-year-old father before police Tasered him to death, it has been claimed.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the 48-year-old drunkenly stumbling towards officers shouting 'I am the Messiah' before being shot 'four or five times', even when he had fallen to the floor. Witnesses accused the police of being 'trigger happy' and claimed officers waited up to 20 minutes to call an ambulance.
One said they appeared to kick Atkinson whilst he was on the floor.
Another said Atkinson – a regular visitor to the property but understood to be living with a friend – screamed that he was homeless and appeared to be trying to kick his father’s front door down.
Brother Kenroy told how Atkinson, who had been suffering depression after dialysis treatment for kidney failure, tried to strangle his elderly father Ernest at his home in Telford, Shropshire.
Kenroy, 53, told
The Sun: 'My brother had lost it. He was in a manic state and depressed — out of his mind and ranting. He had a tube in his shoulder for the dialysis and he had ripped it out and was covered in blood.
'He got dad by the throat and said he was going to kill him. He told dad he had already killed me, our brother Paul and sister Elaine and he had come for him. He was not in his right mind.'
The former Aston Villa striker went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance. He was pronounced dead in hospital 90 minutes later. His father yesterday confirmed Atkinson appeared to have been either on drink or on drugs.
Atkinson was said to have been due at a private hospital in Manchester today for a medical appointment.
West Mercia Police, whose officers rushed to the scene, amid 'concerns for the safety of an individual', declined to comment on the allegations because the incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which is to carry out a 'full and thorough investigation' into officers' actions.
IPCC deputy chairman Rachel Cerfontyne said that an investigation team had met with Mr Atkinson's family to explain their role probing officers' actions.
Atkinson, who made his name playing for Aston Villa in England's top flight in the 1990s, was 'very agitated' shortly before officers discharged the Taser, his elderly father Ernest has said.
He had been visiting the 85-year-old at the time and a next door neighbour told how Atkinson's father repeatedly said this morning: 'He's gone, my boy is dead'. Others said the former Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday player had a weak heart and had suffered from kidney failure in the past.
Neighbours claimed to see Atkinson banging on his father's door and 'shouting about being homeless' in the lead up to his death. He then went down 'like a lead balloon' after being hit by the Taser, an eyewitness said.
Speaking from his home in Telford the former footballer's father said: 'He was in a real state. I don't know if he was drunk or on drugs but he was very agitated and his mind was upset.
'The last thing he said to me was "don't move" when the police came to the door. He was threatening and very upset. I didn't call the police but someone else did.
'He got tasered in the street outside in the road. I didn't see him but I saw a flash. I haven't had any sleep and cannot take it in. The police are dealing with this now.'
Eyewitness Paula Quinn, 44, claimed the Taser was discharged numerous times by an officer even after Atkinson fell to the floor.
She said: 'I was up and about and I could hear a car alarm going off. It was Dalian's Porsche alarm.
'I heard shouting and that's when I looked out the window and saw the two police officers and the gentleman, who I now know was Dalian.
'He was walking toward them, not aggressively, he appeared to be drunk or something. They warned him they were going to Taser him and he appeared to be stumbling forwards.
'Then he was Tasered and he fell to the floor. I heard the taser go off again a number out times, at least four or five, when he was on he ground.
‘Afterwards the two police officers starting kicking him around his body. I heard the Taser go off again a number out times, at least four or five, when he was on the ground.
'There wasn't any noise coming from the gentlemen anymore. The ambulance arrived 10 to 15 minutes after and they worked on him for 15 minutes. He was wheeled off and appeared to be unconscious.'
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said the officers could ‘easily have restrained’ Atkinson outside the house in the Trench area of Telford. He added that he was the victim of a 'trigger-happy police officer.’
Atkinson's 31-year-old nephew, Fabian, today criticised police for using 'excessive force'.
Fabian Atkinson said his uncle 'had a few problems with drink', adding: 'He was having dialysis for kidney problems, he was just getting himself back together with that and that is why his heart was weaker.'
Another family friend said the former footballer had only just come out of hospital a few days ago.
Neighbours described hearing 'a lot of shouting and police' outside the family home at around 1.30am.
Several claimed he had been trying to kick in the door of his family home while his father barricaded himself inside.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'I found out what had happened last night, when I heard the commotion outside - it was frightening.
'There was a lot of banging and shouting, and doors being kicked in.
'Dalian was shouting about being homeless, he wanted his dad to let him in - but his dad wouldn't so he was kicking the door. I have no idea why, or what they were fighting about.
'Then someone phoned the police, and they came - I don't know exactly what happened after that, but it's very tragic.
Life after football proved a further challenge for Atkinson, according to his former friend and team-mate Carlton Palmer.
'It can be difficult for players when they finish and I know Dalian found it difficult,' Palmer said.
'Footballers don't know anything else. Dalian would not have finished his career financially secure and he was scratching around doing stuff.
'When you finish as a footballer, all of a sudden at 34 or 35 you have no routine and no structure to your life and that can be a major problem.
'It can be a very dangerous spiral and unfortunately that's what it was for Dalian.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3741176/Man-38-dies-police-shoot-Taser-Telford.html
This is a very long article, this being some of the most relevant stuff to the actual incident.
