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A second video has emerged from Manchester Airport showing violent scenes moments before a police officer was filmed allegedly kicking a passenger in the head.
The incident on Tuesday caused shockwaves across the country, with protesters blocking roads and trams in the city and politicians urging for calm.
The officer at Greater Manchester Police has been suspended and is now under criminal investigation after the force referred itself to the police watchdog, The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).
But the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham urged people ‘not to rush to judgment’ saying it is a ‘complicated situation with two sides to it’.
New footage obtained by the Manchester Evening News appears to show a group of people standing by ticket machines in Terminal Two (T2) and a man in a light blue outfit is facing one of the machines.
It appears to show three officers approach him from behind and try to restrain him, with a male officer seemingly pushing his head down.
Another man, wearing a dark t-shirt, appears to grab the male officer and the two start to throw punches at one another.
The male officer seems to lower to the ground as the man repeatedly strikes him.
Meanwhile a female officer is restraining the man in blue, but he appears to break free and strike her and another female officer, with one ending up on the ground.
The male officer then seems to point his taser at the man in a dark t-shirt before the man in blue runs at him from behind.
They appear to grapple until the man in blue lies still on the ground, face-down, and a woman kneels by his side.
The officer then appears to kick and then stamp on his head, which was shown in the footage already widely circulated.
Akhmed Yakoob, who has been speaking publicly on behalf of the family at the centre of the Manchester Airport incident, has said in a video posted on X: ‘Nothing can justify a kick and a stomp to the head of a defenseless man.
‘These officers are highly trained, they should not be losing control.’
Greater Manchester Police has opened a public portal for more footage and it is appealing for witnesses to three incidents.
The first is ‘an altercation between passengers’ from Qatar Airways flight QR023 that arrived at 7.20pm, which they said may have taken place on the flight or T2 baggage hall.
There was then a ‘violent altercation involving members of the public’ at about 8.22pm, GMP said.
At 8.28pm at the terminal’s car park pay point area three police officers were assaulted and left with head injuries including a broken nose, it added.
After Manchester Evening News published the latest footage, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told Sky News: ‘There was a prior incident that took place, it seemed that led from a dispute on the plane. There was then an incident in the arrivals area in Manchester Airport, and the footage people are seeing is the subsequent police intervention.
‘It’s a complicated story and it’s frustrating for me in the middle of it with everyone rushing to judgment and everyone thinking they know everything about it, and sadly they don’t.’
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The family of the man who was reportedly kicked and stamped on issued a ‘plea for calm’ and urged people not to take part in any further protests, their MP said earlier on Saturday.
Paul Waugh, the newly elected Labour MP for Rochdale, shared a statement written by the family urging people to give those involved ‘time to heal’ and for ‘due process to take its course’.
Mr Waugh shared an image of the family’s statement on X on Saturday morning and wrote: ‘They have issued a plea for calm and ask for no further protests – they want due process to take its course and urge everyone to respect their wishes.
‘Yesterday’s meeting in Rochdale made clear that this is a community that strongly believes in the rule of law, that the criminal justice system should follow the evidence wherever it leads, and that offenders should be punished appropriately.
‘Those present also rightly stressed that the law should be applied equally to everyone and that no one, particularly the police, should be above the law.’
The officer facing a criminal investigation was also served with a disciplinary notice to inform him he was being investigated for potential gross misconduct for a number of alleged breaches of police professional standards, including his use of force, an IOPC spokesman said.
On Wednesday, a large crowd protested outside Rochdale police station, reportedly shouting ‘GMP shame on you’, while on Thursday, demonstrators blocked roads and tram lines in a protest which started outside Mr Burnham’s office in central Manchester.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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