Chinese Consulate assault investigation continues

Our investigation into the assault of a man after a protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester on Sunday is ongoing with detectives still working meticulously to establish the full circumstances.

Investigators from our Major Incident Team have been obtaining statements from as many of those involved as possible and continue to review a range of CCTV, police body-worn video, mobile phone footage to assist in capturing a comprehensive understanding of what happened.

We’re grateful for footage that has been submitted to us so far and ask anyone with video that has not yet uploaded it to our dedicated online portal to do so here: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP22A58-PO1

We’re investigating events between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday (16 October) after a man suffered several minor physical injuries in the Consulate grounds after an initially peaceful protest appeared to escalate – and our wide-ranging enquiries include looking into why this was the case.

No other injuries have so far been reported to us, other than a minor physical injury to the hand of our officer who intervened to help remove the man in his 30s from the Consulate grounds out of fear for his safety.

So far no arrests have been made and enquiries will continue for as long as necessary with support from partners.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said: “We’re aware and totally understand the amount of focus on this investigation due to the weekend’s events causing shock and concern in the city and much wider afield.

“Our experienced detectives are diligently working through a lot of evidence and statements to ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of the timeline of events that lead to this initially peaceful protest unexpectedly escalating in the way it appears to have done.

“There are many strands to this complex and sensitive inquiry, and we will do all we can to achieve as many answers as possible but I must stress that this investigation will take time and we will provide as regular an update as we can in due course.”