Video captures cop pinning down suspect in Piccadilly Gardens before punching him in the head

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Mobile phone footage has emerged which shows a police officer shoving a suspect to the ground in Piccadilly Gardens before appearing to punch him in the head three times.

The incident happened on Monday night as Greater Manchester Police responded to reports of a fight between two men. It comes after an armed police officer was captured kicking and stamping on the head of a man at Manchester Airport, although other footage obtained by the Manchester Evening News showed the violence which led up to the incident.

Following Monday night's incident in Piccadilly Gardens, GMP said its Professional Standards Directorate was assessing the conduct of the officer who appeared to be captured punching a man in the head after he had been bundled to the ground. READ MORE: Ex-GMP officer admits more sex offences involving 4,016 indecent images of children The footage shows the man yelling in pain and has a bloodied face as officers continued to hold him down.

Crowds gathered to watch and film the scene unfold. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said the facial injury the man appeared to have in the footage had been sustained during a fight prior to the attendance of officers in the Gardens, which has been the subject of a major operation by GMP over the last few months to rid the area of drug dealing and antisocial behaviour.