An armed officer has been removed from frontline policing after footage showed him kicking a man in the face during an arrest at Manchester airport.
A senior Greater Manchester police officer described the incident as “truly shocking” and said people were “rightly extremely concerned” by it.
Footage shared widely online on Wednesday showed the officer pointing his Taser at the man and then kicking him with force in the face and stamping on his head.
The officer is then seen pointing his Taser at a second man, dragging him to the floor and hitting him on the head.
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, said on X that he saw “no justification” for the officer’s actions and called for an “explanation and/or accountability”.
The GMP assistant chief constable Wasim Chaudhry said on Wednesday evening: “We know that a film of an incident at Manchester airport that is circulating widely shows an event that is truly shocking, and that people are rightly extremely concerned about. The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm.
“In advance of what is shown in the footage available, we were called to reports of an assault at terminal 2, Manchester airport, at 8.25pm on Tuesday 23 July. The alleged suspect was seen on CCTV at a ticket machine in the car park and officers attended the location to arrest him.
“During our response, three officers were assaulted. One female officer suffered a broken nose and the other officers were forced to the ground and suffered injuries which required hospital treatment.
“One male officer has been removed from operational duties and we are making a voluntary referral of our policing response to the Independent Office [for] Police Conduct (IOPC).
“Two men have been arrested on suspicion of assault, assault of emergency worker, affray, and obstructing police. Two other men have also been arrested on suspicion of affray and assault of an emergency worker.”
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We understand a voluntary referral is being made by Greater Manchester police, which we will assess once received and decide what further action is required from us.”
The Home Office is understood to have demanded an explanation of the incident. Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, wrote on X: “I am aware of disturbing footage from an incident at Manchester airport this afternoon and understand the public concern it has prompted. I have asked for a full update from Greater Manchester police.”
In the footage the man kicked by the armed officer is lying face down on the ground with his arms by his side, and an older woman is kneeling beside him with her hands on his back.
As the prone man turns his head towards the police, the officer kicks him with force in the face before stamping on his head then kneeing the man in the side. His Taser is drawn on the man at all times.
Shocked onlookers can be heard shouting “move back, move back” and demanding to know why the officer kicked the man. A female officer can be seen pointing her Taser at the crowd.
The male officer then turns his Taser on another man sitting on a bench and orders him to get down. As the man kneels on the floor with his hands behind his head, the officer stamps on his left leg and hits him around the back of the head with his Taser.
Amar Minhas, from Leeds, said he had just landed at the airport when he saw the incident unfold. He told the BBC that police approached one of the men, in his early 20s, and told him he was a wanted man before they “pinned him up against a wall”.
Another man then “started on the police” and a fight ensued, Minhas said. This man started “throwing punches, he was Tasered and fell to the floor”, he said. “That’s when the policeman kicked him.”
Howard Beckett, a former member of Labour’s national executive committee, described the officer’s actions as “the most brutal of assaults” and “thuggery in uniforms”.
