Police chiefs are rallying behind an officer who was suspended from duty after kicking a teenager in the head – as the family of the victim say they have ‘real concerns’ for the cops who were injured in the lead-up to the incident.
Greater Manchester Police was plunged into crisis last week after horrifying footage emerged of an officer kicking Muhammed Fahir, 19, while he was arrested alongside his brother Amaad.
The violent arrest at Manchester Airport – captured on bystanders’ mobile phones – sparked angry demonstrations in Rochdale, where the brothers are from, amid allegations of racism and ‘police brutality’.
The male officer filmed kicking Fahir has been suspended and placed under criminal investigation for assault by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
But a CCTV clip obtained this weekend has shed more light on the incident as it shows Fahir attacking three officers just seconds before he was kicked on the ground.
The new footage of the officer in question and two female colleagues coming under attack shows ‘we need to protect the protectors’, the Greater Manchester Police Federation has said.
This is the moment in the original footage that sparked controversy after a police officer was seen kicking the young man on the ground in the head – but new footage has now shown what happened in the moments running up to this
The federation added that the new video casts the incident in a ‘very different light’.
Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, agreed and said the fresh clip gave a ‘different perspective altogether’, adding: ‘We lost over 5,000 colleagues in the year to March voluntarily leaving. Assaulted repeatedly, poorly paid for the risks, slagged-off by clueless idiots.
‘After this week that trend will only accelerate. I don’t blame any of them.’
It comes as colleagues of the suspended officer refused to carry their weapons in a show of support.
A source close to the firearms unit told The Sun: ‘There is real anger at the way this has been handled and they didn’t feel they could safely carry their weapons after the officer was suspended.’
They said at the point the officer kicked Fahir’s head, he was ‘disoriented’ from being punched in the face and feared his gun had been snatched.
The controversial TikTok lawyer who was representing Fahir and his brother dramatically dropped the case last night after the new video emerged.
Yakoob released a video on Instagram on Sunday night, declaring: ‘After consulting with the family I have decided for now to step aside and I have recommended the family to a lawyer’.
He claimed widespread attention surrounding the case was ‘unfair on the Greater Manchester Police and the family’.
He added: ‘I will be keeping a close eye on this.
‘I would like to say that I am not for violence whether it’s from police officers or it’s from civilians, always remember that.’
His shock announcement came just hours after he said that ‘nothing can justify’ the actions shown by police.
New footage has shown the moments before a Greater Manchester Police officer was filmed kicking a teenager in the head at Manchester Airport
The new footage shows Fahir seemingly hitting a female police officer with a punch to her head
As the first officer points his Taser at Amaad, Fahir grabs him from behind in a chokehold
One female police officer can be seen slumped to the ground, while the other is hit by Fahir
The police officers attempt to bring the men under control after the scene descended into chaos
He said: ‘After reviewing the CCTV footage from Manchester Airport, nothing can justify a kick to the head to a defenceless man and a stomp to the head.
‘Those are my views. These officers are highly trained, they shouldn’t be losing control or seeing red.’
GMP said one of the two female police officers suffered a broken nose during the violent assault.
During the melee, two officers were punched to the ground before officers were able to restrain the suspects with Tasers.
The family of the man kicked in the head have said they have ‘real concern for any police officer injured’.
A source representing the family involved told the BBC: ‘If anyone broke the law they should face due process.’
In response to Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham’s calls for people to withhold judgement until they have the full context, they said there is ‘no context justifying an assault when someone is on the ground’.
But yesterday, former Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley it was now clear that the officer – who was himself punched to the floor and grabbed in a chokehold – had been ‘frankly the hero’ of the situation.
‘That one guy saved the situation and actually, frankly, saved his colleagues,’ he told LBC radio.
‘Sometimes you have to do nasty things to people.’
Sharing the video on X – formerly Twitter – Chief Inspector Melanie Simmons, head of custody at Devon and Cornwall Police, expressed her ‘genuine disgust at seeing the appalling and protracted violent assaults that multiple officers sustained’.
She added that given the incident took place at a ‘high security location’, the firearms officers were ‘very composed in these circumstances given they only drew Tasers and left their handguns in their holsters’.
Ex-armed response officer Harry Tangye accused Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Rochdale MP Paul Waugh and Greater Manchester chief constable Stephen Watson of ‘pandering to mob rule’ by backing the investigation into the policeman seen kicking the teenager.
Fahir (pictured) is seen punching a female police officer in the face, breaking her nose, before knocking down a second woman officer
Accusing them of showing ‘no leadership or moral courage’, he posted: ‘I would argue it is NOT in the public interest to prosecute these officers.
‘Show a backbone for once and reinstate the officer.’
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said the ‘dreadful’ clip showed a ‘disgusting level of violence being meted out on police officers’.
He told GB News that it was now clear that in addition to the probe into the officer, there should be a ‘criminal investigation for a revolting, disgusting appalling level of violence’.
The CCTV clip – obtained by the Manchester Evening News – shows the male officer grab Fahir at a car park pay station, apparently over an earlier confrontation with a passenger.
His brother Amaad then throws a barrage of punches, leaving the officer slumped on the floor.
Lawyer Akhmed Yakoob (centre) with Fahir (left) and Amaad (right). He has said ‘nothing can justify a kick to the head to a defenceless man and a stomp to the head’ after seeing the new footage of the Manchester Airport incident. He has since dropped the case
Akhmed Yakoob, who was representing the two brothers involved in the incident, said the new footage does not change his views on the incident
Fahir – dressed in light blue shorts – then punches a female officer, breaking her nose, before smashing a second policewoman to the ground.
As the first officer points his Taser at Amaad, Fahir grabs him from behind in a chokehold, only to be Tasered himself by the injured policewoman.
Both brothers were arrested on suspicion of affray and assaulting an emergency worker before being released on bail.
Making a renewed call for calm, Mr Burnham yesterday said the latest clip showed there were ‘two sides’ to this ‘complicated situation’.
‘If the whole picture had been put out straight away it would enabled people to make a more rounded judgement,’ he told BBC Breakfast.
‘The social media age we are living in now, people end up taking a side, but life is more complicated and the truth often lies in between.’
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has appealed for witnesses to the attack on its officers as well as two earlier incidents understood to involve the same family.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham once again insisted there were ‘two sides’ to this ‘complicated situation’ which escalated ‘very quickly’ and became a ‘very violent situation’
The two brothers were being represented by ‘TikTok lawyer’ Akhmed Yakoob
The lawyer previously insisted he was not stoking tensions when he claimed that the incident had been an ‘attempted assassination’
Sources have described how the brothers’ 56-year-old mother – whom they were greeting from her flight from Pakistan – told them about an incident on the flight which led to them confronting another passenger in the terminal building.
The first incident is an ‘an altercation between passengers’ from Qatar Airways flight QR023 that arrived at 7.20pm on Tuesday, which police said may have taken place on the flight or baggage hall.
Then at about 8.22pm there was a ‘violent altercation involving members of the public’ near Starbucks in Terminal 2.
Finally after the brothers were tracked via CCTV, at 8.28pm at the car park pay point area three police officers were assaulted and left with head injuries.
Last Wednesday, a large crowd protested outside the family’s local police station in Rochdale, with demonstrators shouting ‘GMP shame on you!’
Demonstrators hold Union Flags with the words ‘No Justice No Peace’ in Manchester on Thursday
Chants of ‘We want them sacked’ were heard during a huge protest in Manchester on Thursday
Some protesters built a makeshift barricade outside Rochdale Police Station on Thursday night
Anti-police protesters throw eggs at Rochdale Police Station on Thursday night
Paul Waugh, the newly elected Labour MP for Rochdale, said: ‘All our communities in Rochdale are united in a strong belief in the rule of law, that the criminal justice system should follow the evidence wherever it leads, that offenders should be punished appropriately’
The following day a second protest blocked roads and tram lines outside Mr Burnham’s office in central Manchester.
On Friday the brothers’ family issued a ‘plea for calm’ via their MP Mr Waugh and urged people not to take part in any further protests.
