Manchester Airport: Greater Manchester Mayor urges people to 'step' back after new footage emerges
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has asked people to "step back" and allow investigations to move forward after new footage was released appearing to show to lead up to an arrest at Manchester Airport where an officer kicked a man in the head.
The footage, obtained by the Manchester Evening News, and not independently verified by ITV Granada, lasts 28 seconds and captures chaotic and violent scenes between the people involved in the incident and police officers before this moment.
In the video, police appear to attempt to restrain one man, before a second man tries to intervene and a fight breaks out.
At the start of the clip, a group of people can be seen standing around a ticket machine inside a car park at Terminal 2.
During the confrontation there appear to be a number of blows aimed at the police officers.
The footage show one of the men appearing to repeatedly throw punches at a male officer. Two female officers also appear to receive blows to the head and face, forcing one to fall to the ground.
During the incident the male police officer appears to points his taser towards one of the men.
Footage of what appears to show an officer kick and stamp on a man as he lay on the ground was widely shared on social media last week.
That footage led to a constable being suspended. He is now facing a criminal investigation for assault.
On Thursday 25 July, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told ITV Granada the situation was not "clear cut" and asked people "not to rush to judgement on the back of something they've seen on social media".
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaking on Thursday 25 July
In a new statement released on Saturday 27 July, after the release of the new footage, he urged the same: "As I said on Thursday, this is a complicated situation with two sides to it. It is why I urged people not to rush to judgement.
"Following incidents in the run-up to the footage people saw this week, four individuals were arrested and are now on police bail. It is frustrating that we have not been able to put more video into the public domain but that is because this is a live investigation."
"People now need to step back and allow the IOPC's criminal investigation into the officer’s conduct to move forward, alongside the parallel GMP investigation into other potential offences, so that a complete picture can be presented.
"Given all these investigations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further."
On Sunday, 28 July, Rochdale MP Paul Waugh urged anyone with information about the incidents to contact Greater Manchester Police.
In a statement on X, Mr Waugh said: "Any perpetrator of criminal attacks on our police should face the full force of the law."
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