Manchester airport incident: Andy Burnham urges public not to rush to judgment after new airport footage emerges

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Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has urged people not to rush to judgement, after new video footage emerged showing a now-viral scene in which a police officer appears to hit a man in the head.

The original video of part of the July 23 incident at Manchester Airport sparked protests in the city center and Rochdale.

A new thirty-second clip shows a group of people standing around a ticket machine in a Terminal 2 car park.

Three police officers – one man and two women – detain a man wearing a light blue top and shorts.

A second man, wearing a black T-shirt, surrounds the officer and appears to begin attacking him.

The two then appear to start punching each other, with the first man punching the two female officers in the clip obtained by Manchester Evening News.

The man in the black t-shirt is beaten by the officer, at which point the second man appears to have knocked down the other two officers and begins hitting the officer in the back of the head.

After the male officer and the first man wrestle to the ground, he appears to be tricked by the female officers. The male officer stands up and appears to hit the man in the head, which is where the video ends.

The original video appeared to show the officer then stamping on the man’s head.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said after the new image was released “this is a complicated situation with two sides” and urged people “not to rush to judgement”.

Mr Burnham said: “Following the incidents leading up to the footage which people have seen, four people have been arrested and are now on bail. It’s frustrating that we haven’t been able to put more video into the public domain, but that’s because this is a live investigation.

“People must now step back and allow the IOPC’s criminal investigation into the officer’s conduct to progress, alongside the parallel GMP investigation into other potential offences, so that the full picture can be presented.

“Given that all these investigations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

The mayor said the incident took place in three stages, with an earlier dispute taking place on a plane before the footage was seen by the public.

He told Sky News on Sunday: “It’s a complicated situation, a very violent situation actually, and there were problems on both sides.

“That’s why I’ve asked other people not to rush to judgment because of the complexity of it and simply to everyone who has their say, no one has all the facts. No one has the full picture.”

There were two nights of protests in Rochdale and Manchester city center after the original clip, filmed at the airport’s Terminal 2 on Tuesday, was shared on social media.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said on Friday that the Greater Manchester Police officer had been made aware he was being investigated for assault.

An officer has received a disciplinary notice to inform him that he is being investigated for possible serious misconduct for a number of alleged breaches of police professional standards, including the use of force, a spokesman said.

IOPC regional director Catherine Bates said: “We can confirm that we are conducting a criminal investigation into the use of force during the events that took place on July 23 at Manchester Airport. We are arranging to interview a police officer under criminal caution as soon as possible.

“I met one of the men involved and members of his family today to outline our investigation and we will continue to keep them and Greater Manchester Police informed as our inquiries progress. We will speak to the man involved in the second incident as soon as we can.

“The family has asked me to reiterate the call for peace and would like to emphasize that they do not condone any act of violence as a result of this incident.

“We are meeting with a number of community leaders in Rochdale this afternoon to listen to their concerns and explain our role.”