A row on a flight which escalated when the plane landed led to the son of the woman in the dispute being “stamped on” by a police officer, it has been claimed.
Footage appearing to show a Greater Manchester police officer kick and stamp on the head of the man named as Fahir, 19, has led to an investigation by The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Two brothers were arrested at the airport on Tuesday, including one who his lawyer says has a cyst on his brain after an officer allegedly kicked and stamped on him.
Their mother was flying into Manchester on Tuesday evening from Pakistan when she was reportedly involved in a row with a passenger.
The dispute continued when the plane landed and a man pushed his luggage trolley into the woman and made racist comments, it is claimed.
The brothers, who were meeting their mother off the flight, then ended up in a confrontation in which three police officers were injured and one of the brothers appeared to be kicked and stamped on by an officer.
Demonstrations have been held in support of the family demanding answers from the police.
The family told the Telegraph they were walking away from the confrontation with the man and were stopped by armed police near the ticket machines.
One allegedly struck the mother in the face but no footage of this element of the incident has emerged,
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is not releasing any bodycam footage publicly but only to IOPC investigators.
GMP claims after the initial encounter its officers were assaulted and “punched to the ground” with three left needing hospital treatment including one female PC who had a broken nose.
Meanwhile the family at the centre of the incident say they are “traumatised” have appealed for calm.
Rochdale Labour MP Paul Waugh told BBC Breakfast on Friday: ““It’s clear from talking to them that they are traumatised. Lots of people saw that video clip and they are distressed by it.
“The police themselves said it was a distressing clip but just imagine if that was your brother or your son in that clip; you can imagine how distraught they are.
“The two priorities of the family is first, the health and the wellbeing of their family – healing and getting better. The second priority, is justice and the need for justice not just to be done but seen to be done.”
“They have got no political agenda whatsoever.
“They are not going to attend any of these protests and they wanted me to issue an appeal for calm among all different types of communities in Rochdale.
“We have a history of unfortunate division in our town and we do not want to go back to those days.
“Their agenda is simply to find justice after this incident.”
He added: “More importantly, they are acutely aware there are extremists from all sides who are keen to hijack this incident and use it for their own ends – the family are not interested in that at all.”
The family's lawyer Akhmed Yakoob claims that Fahir has since been diagnosed with a cyst on his brain after becoming unwell yesterday, although it is not clear if this was present before the incident.
The IOPC said its investigators would assess body-worn video and CCTV footage from officers at the scene.
A statement said: “We will continue to follow other lines of inquiry as the investigation progresses.”
