Dalian Atkinson - Policeman guilty of manslaughter

Bill Walker said:
I always thought murder had to be premeditated.
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No. I think this misconception comes from a misunderstanding/ignorance of the true meaning of "malice a forethought".

Read the English law section.

Malice aforethought - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

Police officers are required to undergo 18 hrs training plus an annual refresher in orser to use a taser. No doubt that he was informed of the proper use and the dangers of using it on an assailant for longer than the regulations permit.

It seems therefore he falls within the "woolin" test that the act of using the taser for 33 seconds was virtually certain to produce serious harm or death to Dalian and the officer foresaw this to be the case.
 
I'm With Stupid said:
I think in the UK, for a murder charge you only have to prove intent to harm the victim, not intent to kill them.
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That's right. You can see the Crown Prosecution Service guidance on murder here. Key sentence: "The intent for murder is an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm (GBH)."

It's also relevant here to check the guidance for offences against the person which says re: intent to cause GBH: "A person ‘intends’ to cause a result if he/she consciously acts in order to bring it about. Factors that may indicate specific intent include a repeated or planned attack, deliberate selection of a weapon or adaptation of an article to cause injury, such as breaking a glass before an attack, making prior threats or using an offensive weapon against, or kicking, the victim’s head."
 
KPXBLN said:
That's right. You can see the Crown Prosecution Service guidance on murder here. Key sentence: "The intent for murder is an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm (GBH)."

It's also relevant here to check the guidance for offences against the person which says re: intent to cause GBH: "A person ‘intends’ to cause a result if he/she consciously acts in order to bring it about. Factors that may indicate specific intent include a repeated or planned attack, deliberate selection of a weapon or adaptation of an article to cause injury, such as breaking a glass before an attack, making prior threats or using an offensive weapon against, or kicking, the victim’s head."
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If you take away the head kicks I think it would still fall within" oblique intent" as set out above.
 
I'm With Stupid said:
Probably, although I imagine there's a bit more scope for a police officer to argue that it was a massive cock up rather than intentional harm.
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It doesn't need to be intentional harm to fall within oblique intent. Almost seven times the prescribed time limit for use of the taser, obviously in the 18 hours of taser training and refreshers he would have been warned about the dangers.

One of them would be dangers of cardiac arrest that come with overuse. We can therefore infer that he should have known that it was a virtual certainty that serious harm would be caused. Il

10 or 15 seconds, perhaps it is just a mistake. But 33 seconds is reckless agression out of control.
 
I feel sorry for Dalian Atkinson, I can also imagine it's very stressful for a police officer when faced with a big guy who is clearly deranged.
However the extended use of the taser and the subsequent kicking he gave the victim whilst unconscious smacks to me of a similar situation we had with George Floyd.
Was the attack racially motivated ? maybe so.
What I can't stop thinking though is ... would this be attracting so much publicity and would it's be getting so much attention if the victim was unknown Black man ?
 
Bill Walker said:
I feel sorry for Dalian Atkinson, I can also imagine it's very stressful for a police officer when faced with a big guy who is clearly deranged.
However the extended use of the taser and the subsequent kicking he gave the victim whilst unconscious smacks to me of a similar situation we had with George Floyd.
Was the attack racially motivated ? maybe so.
What I can't stop thinking though is ... would this be attracting so much publicity and would it's be getting so much attention if the victim was unknown Black man ?
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I just think did this fucker think he could get away with it. And I come to the horrible conclusion that yes, he did.
 
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