The police officer filmed kicking a suspect in the head at an airport brawl told a jury that he had acted ‘professionally’ during the confrontation.
Firearms officer Zachary Marsden has admitted kicking suspect Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, in the head during the fracas at the pay station in Terminal Two at Manchester airport in July last year.
PC Marsden has told the jury at Liverpool crown court that he was trying to arrest Amaaz for head butting another man , Abdulkareem Ismaeil , in a Starbucks cafe minutes earlier.
The attempted arrest sparked a brawl involving Amaaz, his brother Muhammed Amaad,26, and three officers which was filmed and went viral on the internet.
Marsden was cross examined today by Imran Khan KC for Amaaz.
Mr Khan told Marsden: ‘It is his case that last year on July 23 you made a series of mistakes, some or all which were not in accordance with your police training which ultimately resulted in your conduct falling below the professional standards required of a police officer.
‘And you used unlawful force against him, leaving him to defend himself and his brother.’
Mr Khan asked: ‘ How would you characterise you conduct as a police officer in general?’
Firearms officer Zachary Marsden has admitted kicking suspect Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, in the head during the fracas at the pay station in Terminal Two at Manchester airport in July last year
PC Zachary Marsden – who was armed – had been trying to control Amaaz (pictured on the floor in blue)
The dramatic moment when two brothers allegedly assaulted police officers as they tried to arrest them at Manchester Airport last summer was shown to a jury today
Amaaz (in blue) was seen to throw ten punches at the officers during the violence, while his brother – Muhammad Amaad (far left), 26, who is also on trial – threw six
Marsden replied: ‘Professional.’
Mr Khan: ‘ How would you assess your performance as a police officer on that day? ‘
Marsden: ‘Professional.’
Mr Khan continued:’Do you consider, when looking at the CCTV, that there were aspects of your performance which which fell below the standards of a police officer?’
Marsden: ‘No.’
The officer said that he had made a 14 page statement to the Indpendent Office for Police Conduct in October last year but had refused to answer questions.
The jury were told that Marsden was told that the IOPC were investigating whether he had used ‘excessive and unjustified force which amounted to assault.’
Marsden told the court that it was his intention to approach Amaaz at the pay station and remove him from the area on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm.
He had no knowledge that Amaaz was with anyone else and said he decided to approach him in the pay station area because there was a risk he could escape in a car.
Marsden said he was aware of the ‘ crowd dynamic ‘ in the pay station area and wanted to remove Amaaz from the area in case of an adverse crowd reaction.
The moment one of the officers is forced to point a Tazer at Amaad
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz is seen arriving at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday
Amaaz’s brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, is also on trial over the alleged attack at Manchester Airport (he is seen arriving at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday)
He said: ‘Based on my experience as a police officer, affecting an arrest in a crowd can create its own crowd dynamic risk. It would be better to remove him from the crowd.
‘I did not want to operate within the crowd which could give them the opportunity to escalate the situation.’
Mr Khan asked him: ‘If there was any risk in your mind about the crowd, would you not want to reduce that risk?’
Marsden said: ‘If I thought that the crowd posed a risk to me physically, I would not put myself in a dangerous position.
‘There were seconds to make a decision about what was happening. We had to make a split second decision, which is a key and crucial part of our role.
‘It is something we do every day, removing people from planes or from bars. It was no different removing someone from a dense crowd.’
Mr Khan asked if it would not have been ‘simpler’ to have one officer at the door of the pay station area and another at the gate of the car park while he made the arrest.
Two female officers, PC Ellie Cook – also armed – and PC Lydia Ward – who was unarmed – take had been trying to deal with Amaaz when his brother Amaad approached from behind (left)
Amaaz appeared to still be grappling with one officer before he was hit with the Taser shot
Officers are later seen on CCTV deploying their Tasers before hitting Amaaz with it
Having ‘deemed’ that his assailant was ‘a threat’, PC Marsden said he struck Amaad (pictured right) in the face with his first in an attempt to push him away
Marsden replied: ‘There is a difference between simple and safe. I was carrying a loaded firearm. I did not think it was appropriate to separate myself when they could assist me in detaining someone.
‘This was a subject who had allegedly head butted someone. I did not think it safe to try to detain him on my own when I had the luxury of other officers to help me. We needed to control them before they could attack us. We had the element of surprise.
‘There are always elements of risk but it was my duty to reduce those risks wherever possible. It was my honestly held belief that it was not appropriate to explain our attendance in the hope he would comply and leave with us.
‘Based on my previous experience, someone who had head butted someone could be violent again. It was not a risk I was prepared to take. If he was aware of a police officer, he could have tried to run.
‘It unfortunately led to violence as I was struck several times.’
Amaaz denies one charge of assault by beating, two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and one charge of assault by beating of a police officer acting as an emergency worker.
His elder brother Muhammed Amaad,26, is accused of one charge of assault causing actual bodily harm on PC Marsden.
The brothers from Rochdale, Greater Manchester claim they were acting in self defence.
The trial continues.
