Burnham calls for calm as police officer is suspended following airport video
There has been a call for calm after a police officer was suspended following a video which appeared to show a man being kicked as he lay face down on the floor.
The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer was suspended on Thursday after the video was shared widely on social media and prompted protesters to gather outside Rochdale police station late on Wednesday night.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who met with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to discuss the incident on Thursday, asked for calm, saying the “right and proper steps” had been taken.
The footage, filmed at Manchester Airport’s terminal two on Tuesday, appeared to show an officer kick and stamp on the head of a man who was lying face down on the floor, with a woman kneeling beside him.
The video also appeared to show the officer strike a second man.
Police said three of their officers had been assaulted, including a female Police Constable who suffered a broken nose, and four men were arrested.
Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday morning, Mr Burnham said full footage of the incident showed a “fast-moving and complicated” situation with “issues for both sides”, but said it was “right” that the officer had been suspended.
He added: “I would ask for calm because what I can assure people is that the right and proper steps have been taken in the right way.”
He urged people not to use the situation for “political purposes”.
Speaking to media outside Rochdale police station on Thursday, solicitor Akhmed Yakoob said two of the men involved were members of a serving GMP officer’s family.
He said: “The family are okay but they are traumatised.”
He said the condition of one of the men had worsened and said a CT scan revealed a “cyst on his brain”.
He added: “The main concern for us, for me, is that the family receive justice and this no longer happens again.”
The regional director of police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Catherine Bates, promised a “thorough and robust” independent investigation into the incident and said body-worn video and CCTV footage had been secured.
After meeting with the force and Mr Burnham on Thursday, the Home Secretary welcomed the investigation and said: “I share the deep concern surrounding the video and understand the widespread distress it will have caused.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also said he had seen the video and said: “I understand that concern.”
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh said he was due to meet with the family on Thursday.
Crowds, reportedly of about 200 people, gathered outside Rochdale police station late on Wednesday, some chanting “GMP shame on you”.
According to the Manchester Evening News, some protesters let off fireworks outside the police station and one told the crowd: “We’re no longer going to settle for this police brutality. We put our trust in the police and what do they do instead they inflict violence upon us when we surrender to them.”
The force said the demonstration concluded “without incident”.
GMP has said officers at the airport were responding to reports of an altercation between members of the public.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of assault, assault of an emergency worker, affray and obstructing police and two were held on suspicion of affray and assault of an emergency worker, police said.
In a statement on Thursday morning, a force spokesman said: “Following a thorough review of further information that has become available in relation to an incident at Manchester Airport on Tuesday evening, Greater Manchester Police has suspended a police officer from all duties.
“A referral has now been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for a full independent investigation.
“We understand the deep concerns that have been widely raised with us, and will continue to meet and discuss these feelings with Greater Manchester residents and elected representatives, whilst this independent investigation takes place.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub