Retired footballer Dalian Atkinson was in a 'disturbed' mental state, ranted about how he was 'the Messiah' and threatened to kill his own family before he was battered by a police officer, a court heard today.
Atkinson, who played for Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town, was Tasered for 33 seconds and had two bootlace prints on his forehead when he was taken to hospital.
The former Premier League star, 48, died of cardio-respiratory arrest in hospital after the incident in Meadow Close, Telford on August 15, 2016.
PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith, 32, is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm after allegedly battering Atkinson with her baton and this week went on trial at Birmingham Crown Court after her case was re-opened.
The court heard how Atkinson had been 'significantly unwell' prior to his death, with kidney failure, high blood pressure and heart disease all meaning he was 'losing touch with reality'.
Prosecutors described his 'suddenly and dramatically' deteriorating mental state and added the Professional Footballers Association had stepped in to help.
Giving evidence to jurors at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, Atkinson's partner Karen Wright said she had been due to drive him to a medical clinic in Cheshire for an afternoon appointment before he was killed.
Referring to her late partner, who she affectionately knew as 'Dee' for 27 years, Ms Wright told the court the footballer had left a friend's house in the early hours to travel to his father's home in Meadow Close, Telford, Shropshire.
She told the court she spoke by telephone with Mr Atkinson after he had arrived in Meadow Close, where he was Tasered three times before being taken to hospital.
Describing her partner, who was being treated for kidney failure and heart problems, as 'always a gentle, loving, lovely man,' Ms Wright said: 'He was very conscious of his health. He was jogging again in February 2016 so he was getting fit.
'Dee had a hospital appointment on that Monday. He was elated. He was very happy about that.'
On the evening of Sunday August 14, Ms Wright said, Mr Atkinson mentioned 'the messiah' and pulled out a dialysis line which had left him in constant pain.
She and a friend had tried to prevent Mr Atkinson leaving the house, Ms Wright said, but he took the keys to her car and drove away at around 1am despite pleas not to.
During a call to Mr Atkinson's mobile Ms Wright made at around 1.30am, the retired footballer said he was at his father's house and she heard voices she did not recognise in the background.
She said she later got a call from Dalian during the fatal confrontation where she heard him saying 'do you know who you're speaking to' before the phone went dead.
She added: 'I could hear there were some people there, some voices I didn't recognise. I could hear Dalian at the door speaking to people asking them.
'Dalian said the whole family was plotting to kill him. Dalian started to shout down the telephone that he was the Messiah.
'I could hear "You're gonna taser me, I'm the messiah, I'm the messiah, you cannot hurt me".
'It wasn’t until about 20 minutes later that his brother Paul came and asked is Dalian here. You need to come with me as he’s been arrested.'
The court also heard how Dalian had confronted his father on the night he last saw him and told him he was 'the messiah and I've come to kill you'.
The ex-footballer had described himself as a 'born-again Christian', before grabbing his father, Ernest, by the throat and telling him not to move.
A statement from Mr Atkinson's brother Paul was also read to the jury on Wednesday.
The 48-year-old's sibling said: 'The last time I saw Dalian was Sunday August 14 2016 around 11pm, when I gave him a lift home from my house. He was in a good mood because he was finally going to receive private medical treatment.'
Paul Atkinson also stated that his brother later briefly visited his home some time after midnight.
'I heard a knock at the door and someone calling my name,' he stated. 'I heard Dalian saying: "You are plotting against the wrong person, I am the messiah." I then heard the front gate close.'
The former Aston Villa striker Atkinson died after being tasered by PC Benjamin Monk outside his dad's home in Telford, Shropshire.
Monk zapped the 48-year-old with a stun-gun for 33 seconds before kicking him twice in the head and was jailed for eight years for manslaughter in June last year.
The former Premier League star prophesied his own death and believed the NHS or police would kill him, a court heard today.
Prosecutors allege Bettley-Smith 'lashed out' several times with a baton at Mr Atkinson, causing him actual bodily harm.
Earlier this week jurors heard she acted unlawfully when she struck Atkinson with her baton 'with as much force as she could muster' while he lay on the ground after being tasered.
She may have acted 'out of anger' or because she had been told by her partner Monk: 'F**king hit him, f**king hit him', jurors were told.
But Bettley-Smith, of West Mercia Police, claims she used reasonable force at the time and acted in self defence because she believed her life was in danger.
She is on trial for a second time after a jury previously failed to reach a verdict.
The trial continues.