His explanation didn't impress detective sergeant David Henshall, who was on duty at the time of the incident, and at first couldn't understand what was going on, as he was taken aback by the man's flurried behavior.
It was more than just a case of homesickness. As soon as he walked in, Henshall said, he burst out in a tirade about ten years of frustration with Manchester. The man, in fact, made so much noise by throwing his bike around and banging on the enquiry counter that additional officers went down to see what the fuss was about.
"I'm sure Iran is a beautiful place…" Henshall told the Independent. "But we couldn't find out what had been going on because he just was not listening."
Eventually, the unruly man was arrested for breaching the peace and was sent, not to Iran, but to one of the station's cells — far from what he was striving for. At 8 PM the same evening he was released from custody, and immigration services will now look into the situation.
Man arrested demanding deportation (fed up after 10 yrs in Manchester) may have to find own way home; was released after immigration liaison
— GMP City Centre (@GMPCityCentre) September 22, 2015
Henshall said he and his colleagues were impressed by the incident, for until now the focus was on "people coming into the country" rather than trying to leave.
The officers took to Twitter to share the news about the "very angry young man" with the GMP City Centre's 42,000 followers, some of whom expressed sympathy with the man by tweeting back "Can you blame him?" and "We've all been there."
Shall we expect Tehran to introduce quotas for Manchester refugees sometime soon?
