Reports of a headbutt sparked armed police response at Manchester Airport before cop 'kick'

An armed police officer captured kicking a man in the head at Manchester Airport had been scrambled to Terminal 2 because of reports of a violent bust-up between two groups including one man headbutting another, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.

Footage showed the armed cop kicking at and stamping on the head of a man as he lay face down on the ground inside a building at the Terminal 2 car park last Tuesday night, prompting widespread outrage and protests. On Saturday, the MEN exclusively shared a second video which appeared to show the lead-up to this incident. It showed violent scenes erupting between two men, a male police officer and two female police officers during an arrest at Manchester Airport's Terminal 2.

In the footage, a number of punches appear to be thrown by both men involved, with a female officer knocked to the ground as she was punched in the face.

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While the IOPC is independently investigating the police use of force in the T2 car park, Greater Manchester Police is continuing to investigate three previous incidents.

The first is 'an altercation between passengers' from Qatar Airways flight QR023 which arrived at 7.20pm on Tuesday. GMP said this altercation may have taken place on the flight itself or T2 baggage hall. Airport sources have confirmed any altercation was not serious enough to prompt a response from officials at the time.

The second incident was a 'violent altercation involving members of the public' in Starbucks which is 'landside' at T2 at about 8.22pm, GMP said.

Two well-placed sources have told the M.E.N. this involved reports of a confrontation between two groups which included one man