Family of man kicked by police appeal for calm

The family of a man who was kicked in the head by police at Manchester Airport has appealed for "calm in all the communities", an MP has said.

Paul Waugh, Rochdale MP, said the "traumatised" family wanted to make it clear they had "no political agenda whatsoever" and did not condone political violence.

Footage was shared online of a Greater Manchester Police firearms officer - who has since been suspended - kicking and stamping on a man as he lay prone on the floor.

The force said the officer's actions had come after he and other colleagues were "violently attacked" in a car park in Terminal 2 at about 20:30 BST on Tuesday.

Anger over the video led to protests outside Rochdale police station on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with another protest also held in Manchester city centre on Thursday.

Mr Waugh said the family would not be attending any protests or giving any media interviews as they wanted their privacy protected.

"The strong message they wanted to give is that they have no political agenda whatsoever," he told BBC Breakfast.

"They wanted me to issue an appeal for calm among all sorts of different communities in Rochdale.

"We've had a history of unfortunate division in our town and we do not want to go back to those days."

He said the family were "acutely aware" there were "extremists of all sides who are keen to hijack this incident for their own ends".

"The family are not interested in that at all," he added.

GMP said the incident had happened after officers tried to arrest someone in the airport following an earlier fight.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said he had watched wider footage of the incident which appeared to begin after “an issue on a flight coming into Manchester”.

He told the BBC the flight had landed, and two people were “waiting for their mum”, who said there had been “an issue”, and then “pointed somebody out” before there was an altercation in the arrivals hall.

Mr Burnham said those involved had been followed by a camera through the airport, “then we get to the scene that people have seen in the car park area”.

A police spokesman said there had been a "clear risk" the firearms officers could have had their weapons taken from them, and three officers had been taken to hospital, one with a broken nose.

Four men, aged 19, 25, 28 and 31, were arrested in the aftermath on suspicion of affray and assault, and later bailed.

The force said it understood the “deep concerns" that had been "widely raised" after over footage.

Aamer Anwar, human rights lawyer, told BBC Newsnight he was disappointed that leading politicians, including Mr Burnham, had asked people to consider the context to the incident.

He said there was "no justification" for a police officer trained to take "split second decisions" to act in this way, adding the context was "irrelevant".

"They’re not supposed to be provoked, running at a man, kicking him and stamping on him – that was illegitimate, it was disproportionate there was no justification for it.”

Mr Anwar added: “What GMP has done in the immediate aftermath is something that the police service in the whole of the UK always does after [an incident].

“They spin a narrative, they produce what they claim to be facts, and then it takes several years to find out it’s untrue.”

Solicitor Akhmed Yakoob, who is representing Muhammad Fahir Amaaz, who he said was the man who had been kicked, said his condition had worsened on Wednesday night, and a CT scan had "revealed there is a cyst on his brain".

Mr Waugh said all the family members involved had been treated in hospital but were now recovering at home.

"One of them was taken to hospital for another scan," he said.

"I'm hoping that they're on the mend but obviously the after effects of the incident like this are difficult to assess immediately at the time."

Rochdale Councillor Minaam Ellahi, who attended one of the protests, said people had a right to be angry.

“When I was there it was people who were saying they want something to be done about this," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

"They want people to stand in solidarity.

“It was a peaceful protest. No trouble was caused.

"People were raising their concerns. I think people are losing their trust in police."

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which promised a "robust investigation", said it had received two referrals from GMP.

The first concerned the use of force by an officer on a man who was detained on the ground, while the second "related to the same officer’s use of [pepper spray] on another man at the airport", it said.

It also appealed for any witnesses to the incident to come forward to the investigation.

Mr Waugh said: "It's clear that this is a complex, fast-moving incident.

"But obviously there's no justification whatsoever for what we've seen."

He said the IOPC investigation needed to be "thorough" but also "quick", adding: "They're independent of the police and I think the family are really encouraged by that."

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