A male police officer has been removed from duty after shocking footage emerged of a man’s head being kicked in at Manchester Airport. The footage has been widely shared on social media, and shows two officers seemingly assaulting a detained man after tasering him.
The video was captioned: ‘Can’t see how you can justify kicking someone in the face and head when they are laying on floor being tasered and he seemed compliant.’
At one point in the video, the man in blue appeared to be lying down and being compliant when the officer forced him down by putting his knee into his back.
Greater Manchester Police has released a statement in which it says: ‘One male officer has been removed from operational duties and we are making a voluntary referral of our policing response to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.’ In the short 40 second clip, a woman wearing a headscarf can be seen standing over the man.
The police officer holding a taser first brutally kicks the man in the head before he stamps down on the ground and on the top of his head. He then uses his knee to push down on the man on the floor, and looks to try and arrest him on the spot. A female police officer is then seen in the footage looking visibly shocked at the actions of her colleague and tells people to stand back.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has also raised concerns and said: ‘I have seen the disturbing video footage circulating of a GMP officer at Manchester Airport and recognise the widespread and deep concern this has caused in Greater Manchester and beyond.
‘The deputy mayor and I have raised these concerns with the deputy chief constable.
We have been informed that a referral has now been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for a full investigation.’
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: ‘Officers were called to reports of an altercation between members of the public in Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport. While attempting to arrest one of the suspects of the earlier altercation, three officers were subject to a violent assault, where they were punched to the ground.
‘A female officer suffered a broken nose and all three were taken to hospital for treatment. As the attending officers were firearms officers, there was a clear risk during this assault of their firearms being taken away from them.
‘Four men were arrested at the scene for affray and assault on emergency service workers. We acknowledge the concerns of the conduct within the video, and our Professional Standards Directorate are assessing this.’
Another video has circulated on X that appears to show a man being pepper sprayed by police officers at the airport.
Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment about this. The shocking footage comes just days after a scathing report investigating Greater Manchester Police found that several women had been unlawfully arrested and strip searched. The review, commissioned by city mayor Andy Burnham, saw Dame Vera Baird interview 15 women and men who had complained about the way they had been treated by the force.
Source: BBC
In other news – Soldier in serious condition after stabbing near barracks
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