A police officer has been captured pinning a man to the ground and arresting him after a fight allegedly broke out in Manchester.

The incident was filmed by an onlooker after police responded to reports of an altercation between two men in Piccadilly Gardens on Monday night.

A group of uniformed officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) can be seen pinning two men to the ground before one officer appears to deal three sharp blows to one man’s upper body.

The man could later be heard yelling in pain and appeared to have a bloodied face as officers continued to hold him down. GMP said one of the men had suffered injuries to his face before officers arrived at the scene. 

The incident comes just over a month after footage showed another GMP officer appear to stamp on a man’s head as he was being arrested in Manchester Airport.

Police officers can be seen wrestling two men to the floor after responding to reports of an altercation between two men in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, on Monday night

A group of uniformed officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) can be seen pinning two men to the ground

One officer on the left of the video can then be seen raising his fist before appearing to deal three sharp blows to one man’s upper body

Witnesses watching the violent scene unfold on Monday night could be heard shouting ‘what are you getting nasty for?’, while another added ‘why are you punching him?’. 

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One witness said: ‘I heard a lot of commotion and saw police running over to this guy.

‘He was already pinned down and they put three punches.

‘It was way more than what was necessary, he was only a skinny guy and these were all big officers. It seemed he was already on the floor and compliant.’

In a statement Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Officers in the city centre were called to reports of a fight between two men in Piccadilly Gardens just before 10.30pm on Monday 2 September 2024.

‘Officers attended, stopped the fight and detained a number of people. One of the suspects resisted being detained by officers.

‘Following comments made by witnesses at the scene, it was established one of the men had suffered injuries consistent with being hit in the face with an object, prior to police attending. The man was given treatment at the scene.

The man could later be heard yelling in pain and appeared to have a bloodied face as officers continued to hold him down

GMP later said that the man had injured his face prior to officers arriving at the scene 

‘Following initial enquiries, those detained were released pending further investigation.

‘Our Professional Standards Directorate are assessing all footage available, including that taken by witnesses at the scene and officer body-worn video.’

The arrest follows another incident two months ago when a man being arrested had his head stamped during a clash with GMP officers at Manchester Airport.

The force launched an investigation after video footage emerged of violent scenes at the airport on July 23.

The first clip, which went viral on social media, appeared to show a police officer kicking and stamping on the head of Fahir Amaaz, 19, while he was on the ground.

A second video then showed an altercation which had broken out in the moments before the incident.

Mr Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 25, appeared to throw punches at a male police officer – while two female officers were also hit to the ground before Mr Amaaz was Tasered.

Footage of a police officer kicking Fahir Amaaz, 19, while he was arrested alongside his brother Muhammad Amaad

A second video showing an altercation which had broken out in the moments before the incident on July 23 where police officers are punched

Protests were held outside Greater Manchester Police divisional headquarters in Rochdale on July 24 in response to the initial footage of the incident emerging

Two police officers remain under criminal investigation for assault in relation to the incident, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Four men were arrested on suspicion of affray and assault following the incident. They remain on police bail.

Last month the force said it had passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service on whether to press charges over the incident.