Man Tasered After Attempting to Take Medical Staff Hostage in Stockport

Dramatic footage released by police in Stockport, Greater Manchester, shows the moment when officers apprehended a knife-wielding man at a GP surgery on March 12, 2021.

Michael Brannigan threatened multiple people with knives, including a man in a car, a chemist, and staff inside a Woodley Health Centre in Stockport.

When inside Woodley Health Centre, Brannigan declared he was taking a member of staff hostage and attempted to swing a meat cleaver at another member of staff.

Members of staff secured Brannigan in a waiting room before police arrived to arrest him.

This footage shows police officers deploying a taser and detaining Brannigan inside the health center. Police said that as Brannigan was restrained, two knives fell out of his pockets.

Detective Constable Stephen Rothery from Greater Manchester Police’s Stockport division commended the officers who attended the incident for their swift actions.

“Brannigan wreaked havoc in a very short space of time and threatened multiple people with knives, not sparing a thought for the fear or distress that this could cause them,” Detective Constable Rothery said.

“When he was arrested he was found to be carrying multiple knives so who knows what further damage or injury he could have caused to others if he hadn’t been apprehended.”

Brannigan was jailed for 41 months at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on August 25. Credit: Greater Manchester Police via Storyful