Police support officer filmed kicking man as new footage emerges

Police have backed an officer who was suspended from duty after being filmed kicking a man at Manchester Airport after new footage of the incident emerged.

Police watchdog Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched a criminal investigation into the Greater Manchester Police officer for assault after video emerged showing 19-year-old suspect Mohammed Fahir being kicked while he was being held on the ground on July 23.

The incident sparked angry protests in the city centre and Rochdale – but a new CCTV clip has now shown the lead-up to the now viral scene. The video obtained through the Manchester Evening News appears to show two men attacking a police officer and two policewomen shortly before.

Following the release, the Greater Manchester Police Federation defended the police, saying the new footage put the incident in a “completely different light” and showed “that we must protect the protectors”.

Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, agreed, saying MailOnline the new clip offers a “completely different perspective”.

New video footage shows chaos at Manchester Airport before man was kicked in the head

10:03 , Tara Cobham

New video footage has emerged showing the lead-up to a now viral scene at Manchester Airport in which a police officer appears to kick a man in the head.

The 30-second clip, which was released by Manchester Evening Newsshows a group of people standing around a ticket machine in a parking garage at Terminal 2.

Three police officers – a man and two women – approach two men standing by one of the ticket machines and detain one of them, who was wearing a matching light blue top and shorts.

The second man, wearing a black t-shirt, then circles the male police officer who was holding the first man and appears to begin attacking him.

Then the two appear to start hitting each other, with the first man hitting the two policewomen several times.

The man in the black t-shirt is eventually tasered by the male police officer, after which the second man appears to knock down the other two police officers and then hits the male police officer on the back of the head.

After the male officer and the first man wrestle to the ground, the female officers appear to taser him. The male officer then stands up and appears to kick the man in the head, which is where the video ends.

This is the first time that footage of events in the moments before the first video showing the same incident has been released.