Manchester Airport Video Shows Lead-Up To ‘Police Kicking Man In Head’

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A second video has emerged from Manchester Airport showing violent scenes moments before a police officer was filmed kicking a passenger in the head.

Tuesday’s incident sent shockwaves across the country, with protesters blocking roads and trams in the city and politicians calling for calm.

The Greater Manchester Police officer has been suspended and is now under criminal investigation after the force reported itself to the police watchdog, The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).

But Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham urged people not to “judgment too quickly”, saying it was a “complex situation with two sides to it”.

New footage from the Manchester Evening News shows a group of people standing at ticket machines in Terminal Two (T2) and a man in a light blue suit looking at one of the machines.

It appears that three officers approach him from behind and attempt to restrain him, with one male officer pushing his head down.

Another man, dressed in a dark T-shirt, appears to grab the officer, after which the two begin hitting each other.

The male officer appears to lower himself to the ground as the man repeatedly punches him.

Meanwhile, a female officer holds the man in blue, but it appears he manages to free himself and hits her and another female officer, knocking one of them to the ground.

The male officer then appears to point his taser at the man in the dark T-shirt, at which point the man in blue runs towards him from behind.

They appear to struggle until the man in blue lies still on the ground, face down, and a woman kneels next to him.

The officer then appears to kick him and stomp on his head, which can be seen in the footage that has already been widely circulated.

Greater Manchester Police have opened a public portal for more footage and are appealing for witnesses to three incidents.

The first is “an altercation between passengers” on Qatar Airways flight QR023 which arrived at 7:20 p.m., which they say may have taken place in the flight’s baggage claim area or T2.

According to GMP, a ‘violent altercation involving members of the public’ took place at around 8.22pm.

At 8:28 p.m., three police officers were attacked at the payment machine in the terminal parking lot, suffering head injuries including a broken nose, the company said.

After the Manchester Evening News published the latest footage, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told Sky News: “There was an earlier incident that took place, it appeared that this led to a dispute on the plane. There was then an incident in the arrivals lounge at Manchester Airport, and the footage that people are seeing is of the subsequent police intervention.

‘It’s a complicated story and I find it frustrating that everyone jumps to conclusions and thinks they know everything about it, but unfortunately they don’t.’

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The family of the man who was reportedly kicked and stamped on urged people not to take part in 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 “let the process take its course”.

Mr Waugh shared an image of the family’s statement on X on Saturday morning, writing: ‘They have appealed for calm and are asking for no further protests – they want the process to take its course and urge everyone to respect their wishes.

‘It was clear at yesterday’s meeting in Rochdale that this is a community that believes strongly in the rule of law, that the criminal justice system must follow the evidence wherever it leads, and that offenders must be punished appropriately.

‘Those present rightly emphasized that the law must be applied equally to everyone and that no one, and certainly not the police, should be above the law.’

The officer under criminal investigation was also given a disciplinary warning informing him he was being investigated for possible serious misconduct over a number of alleged breaches of police professional standards, including the use of force, an IOPC spokesman said.

On Wednesday, a large crowd protested outside Rochdale police station, reportedly chanting “Shame on GMP!”, while on Thursday demonstrators blocked roads and tram lines in a protest that began outside Burnham’s office in Manchester city centre.

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