Andy Burnham has told how he questioned whether footage of the lead-up to a brawl at Manchester Airport could have been released to give a “broader picture” of what happened.
A Greater Manchester Police officer is under investigation for allegedly leaking wider footage of the incident on 23 July to the media, after an initial video of an officer kicking a man’s head went viral.
The clip sparked protests and led Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester to consider whether more footage of the incident “could be put in the public domain”.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, a 20-year-old student from Rochdale, was later found guilty of attacking two female police officers in the brawl.
Officers had tried to arrest Amaaz after he assaulted a member of the public, with a video of police restraining him after the brawl inside Terminal 2 going viral.
Footage of the build-up to the incident, where Amaaz assaulted the female officers, was then leaked the Manchester Evening News (MEN).
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed its investigation is related to this footage and the allegation it was shared by the officer “during an active police investigation without any legitimate policing purpose”.
Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad will face a retrial next year after a jury could not reach verdicts on allegations they assaulted another police officer.
Sarah Lester, the editor of the MEN has published an opinion piece, questioning whether the IOPC investigation is in the public interest.
“How much taxpayer money is being spent on this – while the justice system groans under the weight of backlogs and delays?” she said.
She said the wider footage published by the newspaper “provided critical context” and pointed out that the protests “stopped overnight”.
Ms Lester also said senior figures in Manchester, including within GMP told the newspaper privately that they were “relieved, even grateful” that the MEN released the footage.
Burnham told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he did question whether or not the footage could be put into the public domain.
He said: “In a world where things are moving so quickly – and where partial footage is out there and people are forming judgement somewhere – I think there is a question about the sort of public policy approach to releasing information.”
But he said any release would need to be handled carefully to avoid prejudicing a criminal trial.
Burnham said: “The IOPC have a job to do and I can’t cut across them carrying out their work. What I can say is that I raised some broader issues with the Home Office in the aftermath.”
