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The mum of a 13-year-old boy who was ‘rammed’ off his e-bike by cops in an unmarked police car has blasted the police.
Junior Moran, 13, was knocked off his e-bike while riding home from MMA training on Tuesday (January 13).
CTV footage of the incident has now surfaced, taken from a house on Hilton Lane in Little Hulton, Salford.
In the clip junior can be seen being knocked off his e-bike. A police officer is then seen walking towards him before he begins to ride away. An unmarked Greater Manchester Police (GMP) vehicle is then driven at him, sending him over the bonnet and tumbling onto the pavement.
The teenager, who was initially detained, can be heard pleading with officers, saying: “I’ve not done nowt.” Officers let him go minutes later, Manchester Evening News reports.
Junior’s mum Jayne said officers left her teenage son ‘stumbling and dizzy’ after he was hit and that the incident has left him ‘traumatised’. Jayne has made a formal complaint to the force.
She said her son did not know the men were police officers or “he would’ve spoken to them and gone over”.
GMP said the e-bike Junior was riding was illegal and that a “decision was made for one officer to make tactical contact while a second officer on foot detained the teenager”.
The force’s Professional Standards Directorate is reviewing the incident, and the video.
“I cannot believe any of this has happened,” Jayne told the paper . “He is such a dedicated young boy and was coming back from boxing club on his bike. I called him before and he said he’d see me at home and was stopping at his dad’s on the way back.
“The next minute I get this phone call from him screaming and all this commotion. I have never heard anything like it in my life. He was shaking and had concussion. He was stumbling and dazed after it all happened.
“I calmed him down and at first thought he had been robbed. He told me he had seen the car eye-balling him and felt uncomfortable. He stopped to let it go past, and as he did this officer jumps out on him with no identification because he was undercover.
“Junior didn’t know who he was and was terrified. You see him stop on the video before he gets back on his bike. He went into panic mode and tried to get away because he was scared. Then the car drives into him and he’s rammed of the road and flies over onto the other side.”
GMP said officers from Operation Venture had seen an e-bike being ridden in Little Hulton earlier in the evening. Following the incident, a full review is being carried out. The force has also withdrawn the driving officer’s driving authority pending the investigation.
Mum Jayne described how she spent hours in hospital with her son who was left with severe concussion following the incident and has now made a complaint. “He had done nothing wrong,” she added.
“I can’t bring myself to watch the footage. These are two grown men. They didn’t identify themselves and he thought he was going to be robbed or attacked. He told me he’s never been so scared in all his life and thought he was going to die.
“As soon as he said they’d done nothing wrong he was able to go. How was there no duty of care for him after he’d been booted from one side of the road to the other? He’s only a child. He didn’t have a balaclava or a hat on, he wasn’t acting suspiciously. He has never been known to the police and has never been in trouble in his life.”
Greater Manchester Police said that Junior was not arrested following the incident, but that the type of e-bike was illegal and later seized under section 165 of the Road Traffic Act as it requires insurance. The family were later visited in hospital by a superintendent and issued with an apology.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “We’re reviewing the use of tactical contact on a teenager riding an illegal e-bike in Salford last night. Officers from Operation Venture had earlier seen the e-bike being ridden in Little Hulton.
“Shortly after the e-bike was first sighted, a decision was made for one officer to make tactical contact while a second officer on foot detain the teenager. The teenager was taken to hospital by a family member as a precaution.
“We’re aware of a video circulating online which is part of our enquiries. It’s important we are able to establish the full circumstances. Tactical contact is a technique used by trained officers to safely stop suspects. All such incidents are recorded.
“Our Professional Standards Directorate is reviewing this case, and we have withdrawn the driving officer’s driving authority pending further investigation.”
