Teenager
kicked in face by Manchester police is ‘traumatised’, solicitor says
Akhmed
Yakoob claims Muhammed Fahir, 19, is victim of police brutality after video
shows arrest at airport
Josh
Halliday North of England editor
Thu 25 Jul
2024 22.50 BST
A teenager
who was kicked in the face by an armed police officer while lying prone on the
ground is “traumatised” and receiving hospital treatment after the “barbaric”
assault, his solicitor has said.
Akhmed
Yakoob said 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was a victim of “police brutality” after
footage showed an officer stamping on his head during an arrest at Manchester
airport on Tuesday.
The video
prompted widespread outrage and triggered an investigation by the Independent
Office for Police Conduct. The officer concerned has been suspended from all
duties, Greater Manchester police said.
Speaking
outside Rochdale police station on Thursday, Yakoob said Fahir and his family
were “traumatised” and “scared of the police, scared to come outside the
house”.
He claimed
Fahir was “fighting for his life” and that his health had “worsened since last
night”.
Yakoob, who
is under investigation by the solicitors’ regulatory body over controversial
remarks on social media, said the teenager was being treated at the Royal
Oldham hospital.
He added: “A
CT scan has revealed there is a cyst on his brain so please pray for his
wellbeing. Right now the main concern for us, for me, is that the family
receive justice and this no longer happens again.”
The Guardian
has been unable to independently verify the claims about Fahir’s condition. The
IOPC and GMP have been contacted for comment.
Andy
Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, tried to calm tensions over the footage
on Thursday after a former senior Metropolitan police officer, Dal Babu, said
racism played a “significant part” in the incident.
Burnham said
he had seen footage of the incident leading up to the arrest which had not been
released publicly.
The mayor
made clear he was not excusing the officer’s actions but said it was “not a
clearcut situation” and there were “issues on both sides” after an incident on
a flight landing at the airport, which Fahir’s mother, 56, is understood to
have been on.
Burnham
said: “So there had been already a serious incident before that. What people
don’t see in the clip is that there is a situation which escalates and
escalates very quickly.”
He said
there were issues “on both sides” but reiterated that the footage in the public
domain was “disturbing” and said it was right to refer the situation to the
IOPC to investigate.
The IOPC
said on Thursday night that it understood the “widespread shock and concern”
and had set up a dedicated reporting line for any potential witnesses to
contact investigators.
The GMP
referred itself to the IOPC over a second incident involving the same officer’s
use of Pava spray on a second man.
Yakoob said
Fahir’s family had given him their account of the incident on the flight but
said it was “not relevant” to the officer’s actions.
He added: “I
don’t know what happened before but one thing I can say loud and clear: nothing
justifies the barbaric treatment from the police officers because as you can
see by the videos … there was no threat whatsoever to the police or the
public.”
Yakoob said
Fahir’s older brother was a serving GMP officer and said he was now “too afraid
to go to work”.
“He went in
today and spoke to his supervisor and the only reason he is not going to work
is fearing for his own safety and he thinks [that], like his family members
were victims, he will be a victim.”
He added:
“The family are OK but they are traumatised.”
Asked
whether he believed the alleged brain injury was linked to the incident, he
said: “That is something a medical professional would have to answer but as far
as I know I’ve spoken to the consultant and they’re saying it could be related
to the injuries at the airport.”
Yakoob said
Fahir’s brother and mother were also assaulted by the police. He alleged the
mother was kicked in the face, and said he would document her injuries with her
permission.
About 200
people protested outside Rochdale police station on Wednesday, reportedly
shouting “GMP shame on you”.
On Thursday
evening, a few hundred protesters gathered outside Burnham’s office as part of
a Stand Up To Racism demonstration, chanting slogans such as “No justice, no
peace, no racist police”.
They then
marched through the city before various speeches took place. Social media
footage appeared to show demonstrators blocking tram lines and roads.
Manchester’s
Bee Network said on social media: “Due to a protest in the city centre, tram
services are operating to an amended service pattern.”
Yakoob, a
director at Maurice Andrews Solicitors, in Birmingham, came under investigation
by the Solicitors Regulation Authority this year after he used social media to
promote a false claim of racism against a young teacher.
He stood as
an independent candidate in Birmingham Ladywood in the general election after
coming third in the campaign for West Midlands mayor in May. He apologised in
June after being criticised for saying on a podcast that “70% of hell is going
to be women”, and for failing to condemn a guest saying he would give his wife
a “backhander” if she made money dancing on TikTok.
The Rochdale
MP, Paul Waugh, described the airport footage as “truly shocking and
disturbing”.
Yvette
Cooper, the home secretary, said she welcomed the IOPC’s investigation and
added: “I share the deep concern surrounding the video and understand the
widespread distress it will have caused.”
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