The Mayor of Greater Manchester has said “nobody is in possession of the complete picture” of the Manchester Airport incident that occurred earlier this week.
Protests erupted in Rochdale and Manchester city centre after a video circulated of an officer allegedly kicking and stamping on a man as he lay face-down during an arrest at the airport on Tuesday.
Andy Burnham urged people to “take a step back” and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations after the Manchester Evening News published new footage on Saturday thought to show the lead-up to the incident.
A Greater Manchester Police constable has been advised he is under criminal investigation for assault over the incident, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Friday.
Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Burnham said: “It’s a complicated situation, a very violent situation actually, and there were issues on both sides.
“That’s why I asked other people not to rush to judgment because of the complexity of it and, simply, everyone who’s having their say, nobody has got all of the facts. Nobody is in possession of the complete picture.”
The new video 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 male and female officers attempting to restrain two men were involved in a series of strikes and punches before one man was tasered.
An officer and a man in blue appear to grapple until the latter 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.
Asked when some kind of conclusion could expect to be reached by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Mr Burnham said: “I know it’s a frustration in the world we live in, everybody wants instant conclusions, but life’s not like that, is it?
“We have in the last few days people making complete judgments on the one side or the other. You’re picking a side in this whole thing and the truth always lies somewhere in between.
“Life’s more complicated than sometimes people portray it to be on social media.”
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.
I have checked with the family of the Manchester Airport incident and this remains their latest message to all communities.
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.… pic.twitter.com/MVgDExTn2b— Paul Waugh MP (@paulwaugh) July 27, 2024
There was then a “violent altercation involving members of the public” in T2 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.
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”.
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.
