A police officer who tasered ex-Premier League footballer Dalian Atkinson before kicking him in the head twice has been cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

The former Aston Villa striker died in hospital on Monday, August 15, 2016 after the altercation outside his father’s home in Telford, West Midlands.

Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court took 18 hours and 48 minutes to reach unanimous verdicts on Pc Benjamin Monk, who claimed he was put in fear of his life.

No verdict has yet been reached against Pc Mary-Ellen Bettley-Smith who was also present.

Mr Atkinson retired from the game in 2001 in a career which saw him play for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.

Since retirement he had suffered from numerous health issues including high blood pressure, heart disease and end stage renal failure for which he had been receiving dialysis treatment.

The last time an officer was convicted in such a case was in 1986, when a Merseyside police sergeant was found guilty of manslaughter after kicking and punching a retired bus driver in a police cell.

Monk told the court he ran in fear after Atkinson, who appeared to be having a mental health crisis, made death threats and smashed a glass door pane at his childhood home in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire.

The 43-year-old officer claimed the former Premier League star was trying to get up when he aimed kicks at his shoulder in lawful self-defence as a last resort, after running out of Taser cartridges.

Mr Atkinson went into cardiac arrest after being taken from the scene in an ambulance, and was pronounced dead in hospital at 2.45am – about an hour after he was Tasered.

Prosecutors said Monk lied about the number of kicks he had delivered to the victim’s head by claiming he could remember only one aimed at his shoulder.

The officer also claimed to have no recollection of placing his foot on Atkinson’s head as colleagues arrived at the scene.

Although he conceded he must have kicked the ex-footballer twice in the forehead because bootlace prints proved he had, the officer maintained his actions were lawful self-defence made necessary when Atkinson tried to get up.

Taser records showed Monk activated the weapon eight times for a total of more than 80 seconds using three Taser cartridges, culminating in a 33-second deployment more than six times longer than is standard.

Jurors were told they could convict Monk of murder only if they were sure he intended to cause really serious injury.

The court heard that Monk, who has 14 years’ service in uniform, and Bettley-Smith, who joined the force in February 2015, were in a relationship at the time of the incident.

Additional reporting from the PA*