Dalian Atkinson death: Black people 'off the scale more likely' to be Tasered by police, campaigners say

'If we are living in a civilised 21st Century society, one would hope this wouldn’t happen'

Dalian Atkinson should be remembered for his sporting achievements, not his tragic death (Reuters)

Campaigners have reacted to the death of ex-footballer Dalian Atkinson by claiming you are “off the scale more likely” to be Tasered if you are black.

The death of the 48-year-old black ex-Aston Villa striker, outside his parent’s house in Telford, Shropshire, in the early hours of Monday morning, has added to tensions that were already running high in the wake of this summer’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests.

The incident has prompted calls for Prime Minister Theresa May to lead an “urgent and fundamental” review of how police use a weapon that can deliver a 50,000-volt shock and was fired 1,921 times in England and Wales last year.

A leading campaigner against excessive police deployment of Tasers has now told The Independent that the way the weapons are being used generally is “a reflection of institutional racism within the police".

Matilda MacAttram, the director of the human rights campaign group Black Mental Health UK, said: “If you are black and living in England, the likelihood of you being Tasered is off the scale compared to the rest of the population.”

There is no indication that the officers who attended the incident involving Mr Atkinson discriminated on racial grounds or acted inappropriately in any way.

But Ms MacAttram said that when it came to the use of Tasers generally, an October 2013 report for the London Assembly found that black people represented half of those subjected to Taser deployment, despite making up only 10 per cent of the capital’s population.

In October 2015, Home Office statistics supplied as a result of a BBC Freedom of Information request showed that between 2010 and 2014 about 12 per cent of incidents in England and Wales where Tasers were drawn, aimed or fired involved black people – three times higher than their four per cent representation within the general population.

Ms MacAttram said: “If we are living in a civilised 21st Century society, one would hope this wouldn’t happen.”

The precise details of Mr Atkinson’s death are now the subject of an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation, but his father Ernest, 85, said that his son had been “in a real state” shortly before the police arrived, telling reporters: “I don't know if he was drunk or on drugs but he was very agitated and his mind was upset.”

Ms MacAttram, who is calling for a ban on the routine use of Tasers against those detained in mental health institutions, criticised a general culture “where violence is being used against the most vulnerable in our society when they are in need of help".

“The use of a Taser is never acceptable when dealing with somebody who is known to have or suspected to have a mental health condition. There has been a 10-year routine human rights abuse where the default is Tasers against the vulnerable on the streets or in hospitals.

“When somebody is vulnerable, the response will not be – as it was 15 years ago – to try to engage with the person.”

She was backed by the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, who is supporting her efforts to ensure that the Policing and Crime Bill, currently passing through Parliament, includes a ban on routine Taser use against those detained in mental health institutions.

Police survey the scene in Meadow Close in the Trench area of Telford, where the former Aston Villa footballer died after he was tasered by police (Reuters)

The former health minister said: “This [Mr Atkinson’s death] was a tragic event. But it is not the only one. There needs to be an urgent and fundamental review of the use of Tasers.

"Theresa May [when Home Secretary] had previously raised concerns about it and so I would like to see her take a lead on this.

“Tasers are sometimes regarded as a safe option compared to the use of physical restraint, but there is accumulating evidence that that is not the case. There are very serious risks.”

Since 2004, when Tasers were authorised for use by authorised police firearms officers, before being given to other specially trained units in 2007, there have been at least 10 deaths in England and Wales linked to the so-called ‘stun guns’.

After it emerged that Mr Atkinson suffered a cardiac arrest as he was being taken to hospital in an ambulance, his nephew Fabian Atkinson said the ex-Aston Villa player had been having dialysis treatment for kidney problems.

"And obviously that's inevitably why his heart was weaker. How do they know, unnaturally putting volts through a body, how do they know they're going to survive that?” he said.

Mr Atkinson’s death also comes two months after ex-soldier Spencer Beynon died in June as a result of being Tasered by police in Llanelli, South Wales, after stabbing a dog and then himself.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are committed to giving the police the necessary tools to do their job — and a Taser provides officers with an important tactical option when facing potentially physically violent situations.

"But just as with sensitive powers like stop and search and mental health detention, the police use of force warrants proper accountability and transparency.”

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) refused to comment on Mr Atkinson’s death until the IPCC had completed its investigation, but at the time of the BBC Freedom of Information request a spokesman said specialist Taser officers acted fairly regardless of race.

The spokesman said: “Every use of Taser is reported and scrutinised by a supervisor and officers are personally accountable to the law each time their Taser is drawn.

"Officers receive specialist training that helps them to determine the best course of action in resolving a violent or potentially violent situation. Taser is one of many tactical options a police officer can use.

"In 80 per cent of Taser uses in the UK, the mere presence of the device is enough to resolve the violent or potentially violent situation without any force being used."