Rogue officer was a teen golf ace: PC convicted of killing football star Dalian Atkinson was a hotshot on the links before joining the force
- Benjamin Monk twice won juniors' cup as teenager and played off five handicap
- Completed a diploma in sports science before joining the police in his early 20s
- Monk married youth worker Katie Lunt at Shrewsbury's Catholic cathedral
Disgraced Benjamin Monk had been a promising golfer in his youth – becoming junior captain at a local club.
His parents both played golf and introduced him to the game.
He twice won a juniors' cup as a teenager and played off a five handicap at Bridgnorth Golf Club in Shropshire.
A woman who knew him said: 'He was a happy-go-lucky chap and a well-thought-of young man – you don't get to become junior captain if you are not.'
Disgraced Benjamin Monk had been a promising golfer in his youth – becoming junior captain at a local club. His parents both played golf and introduced him to the game
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His architect father died of a heart attack when Monk was 22. The Bridgnorth Endowed School pupil completed a diploma in sports science before joining the police in his early 20s.
His first posting with the West Mercia force was to Ludlow, where he spent seven years.
In 2007 Monk married youth worker Katie Lunt at Shrewsbury's Catholic cathedral.
The couple had a daughter two years later, but the marriage was in trouble by 2010 when Monk was posted to the force operations support team.
PC Benjamin Monk (left) discharged a Taser on Dalian Atkinson (right) and kicked him twice in the head, while PC Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith hit him with a baton
Monk was authorised to use a Taser to support unarmed officers. He was posted to Telford's Malinsgate police station in 2013, where he joined a 25-strong response team.
Monk was again trained in Taser operation, followed by a refresher course in 2016 – by which point he and fellow officer Mary Ellen Bettley-Smith were lovers.
Before blasting Dalian Atkinson, Monk had only once discharged the device – in 2010 – but had drawn the Taser four times in 2016.
Evidence that emerged from his trial came as a shock to those who knew him. A former colleague said: 'Ben's a lovely man – there's not a nasty bone in his body. I would trust him with my life.'
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