Man guilty of Manchester Airport attack on police officers

A student has been found guilty of attacking two female police officers during a large violent disturbance at Manchester Airport.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was charged with assaulting the Greater Manchester Police officers during the fracas on 23 July last year, with mobile phone footage of the incident being widely shared on social media.

Following a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Amaaz was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm, and the assault of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook.

After 10 hours of deliberating, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on allegations that Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, assaulted PC Zachary Marsden causing actual bodily harm.

Prosecutors are now seeking a retrial on those counts.

Amaaz was also found guilty of an earlier assault of a member of the public, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, at a Starbucks cafe in the airport’s arrivals area earlier in the day.

The court heard how PC Zachary Marsden, PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook had entered the airport car park’s pay station area following reports of a male fitting Amaaz’s description headbutting a member of the public.

Prosecutors said Amaaz had resisted as he was grabbed from behind at a car park ticket machine, before the prolonged violence broke out.

He was seen to floor PC Ward with a punch to the face which broke her nose and also knocked PC Cook to the ground.

He was also alleged to have punched PC Marsden from behind and then had hold of him before PC Cook discharged a Taser device.

A kick and stamp by PC Marsden as Amaaz lay on the floor was also shown in the footage.

Both defendants, from Rochdale, told the court they had acted in lawful self-defence, or in defence of each other.

Giving evidence, Amaaz said he feared the “lunatic” male officer would “batter him to death” while Amaad said he believed he was under attack.

The defence claimed the officers had used “unlawful force” as they grabbed Amaaz from behind without announcing themselves.

The court heard PC Ward suffered a broken nose in the incident, during which she remembered “falling on the floor and everything went black” after a “really forceful” blow to her face.

PC Ward said: “As I came round, all I could feel was blood pouring out of my nose. I was just thinking he has done something to my nose, face area, I didn’t know what has happened.

“I was terrified to be honest. I was absolutely terrified. I had never experienced that level of violence towards me in my life.”

Mike Peake, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, said Amaaz’s conviction showed the “worst side of police work our officers are faced with”.

“Police officers in Manchester work in a difficult, dangerous, and dynamic world where there is no such thing as a routine incident. They deserve support in that work from the public and politicians,” he said.

“[Thirty-five] officers are assaulted in Greater Manchester Police every week. We are bloodied and we are bruised.

“We have been supporting the officers concerned in the incident at Manchester Airport last summer since it occurred. And as a federation we will continue to do so.”

Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said the force was “actively supportive of a retrial in respect of the two counts where a verdict was not achieved”.

He said: “Our officers are decent people who routinely place themselves in harm’s way to protect the public. They deserve our respect and support.

“I am particularly grateful to those many members of the public who have contacted the force in order to pass on their best wishes to the officers affected.”

Amaaz was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing, a date for which has not yet been decided.