Four burly shopping centre security guards have been caught on camera pinning a teenager to the ground and swearing at angry witnesses trying to intervene.
The men were seen pushing the head of the 18-year-old, named only as Morgan, onto the floor of Frenchgate Shopping Centre in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
A friend claimed Morgan had been banned from the mall a few weeks earlier but had since been allowed back in – although the guards appeared not to know this.
The guards were seen pushing the head of the 18-year-old, named only as Morgan, onto the floor of Frenchgate Shopping Centre in Doncaster, South Yorkshire
One guard could be seen slamming Morgan’s head to the floor while others restrained his arms and legs, and he could be heard screaming out in pain.
Also during the incident on October 5 at about 1.30pm, an elderly woman who tried to intervene was told by the guards to ‘stay the f*** out of it’.
The men told Morgan to ‘calm down’ but he replied: ‘I am calm. I will be calm if you get off me.’ The guard added: ‘Listen to me, no matter how we ask you, once you are asked, you go.’
While the guards continued to hold Morgan to the ground, he could be heard saying: ‘Get arrested for what? I haven’t done anything wrong.’
A woman’s voice could then be heard as she appeared to say ‘you can’t hold his hand like that’, prompting an angry response from the guards.
One of the guards then made an announcement for members of the public to continue shopping as another said: ‘Move along now please, nothing to see.’
A friend claimed Morgan had been banned from the mall a few weeks earlier but had since been allowed back in – although the guards appeared not to know this
One guard could be seen slamming Morgan’s head to the floor while others restrained his arms and legs, and he could be heard screaming out in pain
Jack Harris Clarke, who said he is a friend of Morgan, recorded the incident after being disgusted by his treatment and posted the footage onto Facebook.
The footage has now been viewed more than 700,000 times since it was posted yesterday, with many viewers outraged by the scenes.
Along with the videos, Mr Clarke wrote: ‘This young lad was brutally taken down by four security guards in Doncaster town centre.
‘He was called names before being pinned to the floor. He couldn’t do anything and one of the security guards slammed his head on the floor as shown in the video.
‘Many people were surrounding this incident and an elderly woman was told to “stay the f*** out of it”. This behaviour shouldn’t be used in such a public place!
‘If anyone has any other evidence please send me them so I can help this lad prosecute these security guards!
Also during the incident on October 5 at about 1.30pm, an elderly women who tried to intervene was told by the guards to ‘stay the f*** out of it’
While the guards continued to hold Morgan to the ground, he could be heard saying: ‘Get arrested for what? I haven’t done anything wrong’
‘I did start raising my voice as there was [sic] children and families walking by watching this incident. Please share to show how disgusting the security guards are in Frenchgate Shopping Centre.’
At one point in the video, Mr Clarke can be heard trying to intervene by telling one of the guards not to put his knee on Morgan’s head.
Mr Clarke said Morgan had previously been barred from Frenchgate a few weeks prior, but this ban was removed because it was a false accusation.
He added: ‘He was allowed back in but the security guards obviously didn’t know that. He was approached by one of the security guards.
‘And was called ‘bog brush’ and told him to ‘f***ing leave’, so Morgan said that he was meeting someone then going away from Frenchgate.
‘He was then grabbed by two security guards and was being forced to leave. Morgan, like anyone else, didn’t like this and wanted to be let go.
‘That’s when he tried getting out of the situation because of the pressure that they were putting on him. That’s when things got out of hand and he was restrained.
Paddy Mellon, general manager at Frenchgate, said his security team had ‘received an apology from the gentleman involved for his behaviour which led to the police being called’
‘Then two more security guards came. Then another, then another and another. At the end of filming, the security guard that approached me.
‘We started having a full blown argument and everyone was agreeing with me that it’s not right to have that many people on someone who is more than half their size.’
According to Mr Clarke, he went with Morgan and one other person with security guards to a corridor in the centre.
He said arguments continued but Mr Clarke had to return to work as police arrived at the scene. Mr Clarke said Morgan was left with bruises and had a ‘bang on his head’.
Paddy Mellon, general manager at Frenchgate, said: ‘We are aware that an incident occurred on October 5 within the centre involving two adult members of the public and members of our security staff.
‘The incident was resolved with the assistance of South Yorkshire Police and our security team have received an apology from the gentleman involved for his behaviour which led to the police being called.
‘We are currently carrying out an internal investigation into this matter and at this time we cannot comment further.’
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman told MailOnline: ‘At around 1.15pm on Thursday, October 5, officers responded to reports of a teenage girl attempting to assault a member of staff at Frenchgate centre. No one was hurt in the incident.’