Manchester Airport: Ex-police chief warns of ‘summer of discontent’ over race failings

Exclusive: ‘I cannot discount the possibility that people are going to get more frustrated and take matters into their own hands,’ says former Met Police chief Leroy Logan

Leroy Logan is a former Metropolitan Police superintendent who worked on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry (Leroy Logan/Rich Barr)

A former Metropolitan Police chief has warned of a “summer of discontent” following widespread condemnation of an officer who kicked an Asian man in the face at Manchester airport.

Ex-Met superintendent Leroy Logan reacted to footage of Tuesday’s incident, which went viral on social media, warning that this latest case of violent policing of Asian, Black and minoritised communities will spark riots as part of ongoing concerns about racist police officers.

Greater Manchester Police, which said it understood people’s “immense feeling of concern”, has since removed the officer from operational duties and has referred itself to the police watchdog for investigation.

“We could be looking at a summer of discontent where people are going to hit the streets,” Mr Logan told The Independent on Thursday.

“You’ve had recent issues in Leeds where people rioted and it was dealt with within a small geographical area.

Brothers from the Manchester airport video are seen for first time since the incident (Akhmed Yakoob)

“Things can really kick off when officers don’t treat people with respect and dignity.

“I don’t condone bad behaviour or criminality of any sense, but I cannot discount the possibility that people are going to get more frustrated and take matters into their own hands.

“Martin Luther King Jr said: ‘Uprisings are the language of the unheard.’ I just get a really bad sense that the police are going from bad to worse.”

Mr Logan criticised the GMP officer as a “loose cannon” who may not be able to avoid criminal charges, adding that “he shouldn’t be wearing the uniform, much less holding a gun”.

He said the incident reminds him of a West Mercia Police officer’s attack on retired Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson in 2016 which resulted in a manslaughter charge.

“I cannot discount the possibility that the GMP officer will put before the courts; exactly what charge I can’t say. But it’s a very serious assault.”

He added that in his opinion, the officer “conducted himself in an abominable manner” before describing it as possibly “the worst type of thuggery” he has seen by an officer.

(Twitter)

Comparing the Met Police, Britain’s largest police force, and GMP, Mr Logan said racism and institutional problems across both are the same while “toxic cultures” have been able to develop within policing units.

“These subcultures reinforce officers’ warped behaviour and, as a result, they think they can just act with impunity with no consequences to suffer.

“GMP has been the same as the Met for years,” he continued.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has called for calm following the incident and met with home secretary Yvette Cooper to discuss the footage.

Mr Logan is calling upon Ms Cooper plus municipal mayors like Mr Burnham and London’s Sadiq Khan to issue a warning to police chiefs: “Shape up or ship out.”

This comes as a protest took place outside of Mr Burnham’s office on Thursday evening.

Event co-organiser, Weyman Bennett of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR), told The Independent that he believes the police officer’s actions were “criminal” and “had nothing to do with policing”.

Protesters attend a Stand Up To Racism demonstration in Manchester on Thursday (James Speakman/PA Wire)

“We keep being told that the police have changed and then we see them stamping on someone’s head who is prostrate on the ground,” he said.

Tonight’s protest was “important”, Mr Bennett said, because “people from all parts of the community are coming out to say what happened is not acceptable and we’re opposed to this; that needs to be taken seriously”.

He added: “We think there’s a problem of racism within the police which has not been removed and, unless that’s challenged, we’re going to see more of these incidents and people losing their lives at the hands of the police with no explanation given, other than them being accused of something and excessive violence being used against them.”

The Network for Police Monitoring, based in Manchester, has published numerous reports over the years, highlighting alleged failures of GMP’s policing of local communities.

The incident at Manchester Airport has sparked protests (PA Archive)

Responding to the airport footage, Kevin Blowe, Netpol’s Campaigns Coordinator, told The Independent that the officers’ attempts to stop the incident from being filmed “stood out” as “oppressive”.

“Having been involved in police monitoring for over three decades, what also stood out for me was the unlawful efforts to stop others from documenting what they saw.

“All too often this is what racialised communities in Greater Manchester and beyond are forced to endure: not just a profoundly racist police force, but also the gaslighting and denial of the daily reality of oppressive policing”.

Amna Abdullatif, an independent councillor in Manchester, said: “Police have to look at how this happened, why it happened and make sure that the consequences for those officers that were involved in this are heavy, and that they’re not just the suspension and then six months later, we see the same officer back in his role.”

Greater Manchester Police was approached for comment.