A Police chief has thanked the public for backing officers brutally assaulted in a brawl at Manchester Airport after a student was convicted over the attack.
One of two brothers accused of raining down blows during the incident was found guilty on Wednesday of assaulting two female police officers.
The case gained national attention after shocking footage of a policeman kicking a teenage suspect in the head as he lay prone on the ground was viewed millions of times.
But days later leaked CCTV of the moments before showed how Mohammed Fahir Amaaz had fought and grappled with the officer and two female colleagues.
On Wednesday, after a four-week trial in Liverpool, Amaaz – now 20 – was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm.
The university student was also convicted of one charge of assault by beating of armed officer PC Ellie Cook, whose face was left bruised and swollen.
Sir Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, praised the officers for putting themselves in ‘harm’s way’ to tackle ‘outrageous criminal behaviour’.
He added: ‘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.’
PC Lydia Ward after being brutally assaulted in a brawl at Manchester Airport. A Police chief has thanked the public for backing officers attacked last year
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, pictured, one of two brothers accused of raining down blows during the incident was found guilty on Wednesday of assaulting two female police officers
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court could not reach verdicts on either Amaaz or Muhammad Amaad, pictured, for assault causing actual bodily harm against PC Zachary Marsden
He said the officers were ‘responding quickly to precisely the sort of outrageous criminal behaviour that rightly offends the public’. ‘Whilst assaults on police officers are sadly not uncommon – 44 of my officers are assaulted every week across Greater Manchester – such attacks can never be justified,’ Sir Stephen said.
Mike Peake, chairman of Greater Manchester Police Federation, which has been supporting the officers involved, said the public needed to get behind the police.
‘Police officers in Manchester work in a difficult, dangerous and dynamic world where there is no such thing as a routine incident,’ he said. ‘They deserve support in that work from the public and politicians.
‘The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with. We are bloodied and we are bruised.’
Following the incident PC Zachary Marsden was suspended and investigated by police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
After a delay of 150 days the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced last December that he would not face any charges, while Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, would both stand trial.
The jury had been shown graphic footage of red-headed PC Ward sobbing and bleeding after being caught by a left hook from Amaaz.
Jurors also found him guilty of assault by beating against holidaymaker Abdulkareem Ismaeil.
On Wednesday, after a four-week trial in Liverpool, Amaaz – now 20 – was convicted of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing actual bodily harm (pictured)
The case gained national attention after shocking footage of PC Marsden kicking a teenage suspect in the head as he lay prone on the ground was viewed millions of times
The police officers had been attempting to arrest him for headbutting the Kuwaiti minutes earlier. Amaaz had accused him of racially abusing his mother on an incoming flight.
However, jurors at Liverpool Crown Court could not reach verdicts on either Amaaz or Amaad for assault causing actual bodily harm against PC Marsden.
Both brothers denied all the charges, arguing that they were acting in self-defence or the defence of one another. The CPS will now seek a retrial of the brothers – both from Rochdale – in relation to the allegations that they assaulted PC Marsden.
And while Amaaz now faces a possible prison sentence, PC Marsden could also still face criminal charges. Although no longer suspended, he remains under investigation by the IOPC, which has been monitoring the trial.
It could still refer him back to the CPS to consider pressing charges, jurors were told. A second male Greater Manchester Police officer – who along with PC Marsden confronted bystanders filming the brawl – also remains under investigation.
The violence erupted at 8.28pm on July 23 last year as officers responded to reports of Amaaz headbutting Mr Ismaeil at a Starbucks cafe in the Terminal 2 arrivals area minutes earlier.
PC Marsden and his female colleagues caught up with Amaaz, then 19, as he and his brother were paying for parking, accompanied by their mother and six-year-old nephew.
Giving evidence, PC Marsden told jurors that based on the violence of the headbutt they decided to get ‘immediate control’ of the teenager and take him in for questioning.
Sir Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said the officers were ‘responding quickly to precisely the sort of outrageous criminal behaviour that rightly offends the public’
Amaaz was also convicted of one charge of assault by beating of armed officer PC Ellie Cook, whose face was left bruised and swollen
Instead, shocking footage shown to the jury from multiple angles including police bodycams showed how Amaaz resisted arrest. In court, PC Marsden said he had thrown a pre-emptive punch, fearing heavily-built Amaad was trying to grab his loaded Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol from its holster.
Amaaz – who threw ten punches in the melee – hit and elbowed PCs Cook and Ward before tackling PC Marsden, who had managed to fire his 50,000 volt Taser at Amaad.
In the flurry of violence PC Cook then managed to Taser Amaaz, who fell to the floor and was kicked by PC Marsden, whose glasses had been knocked off in the melee.
Asked about the kick, PC Marsden said he was attempting to ‘stun’ Amaaz, not immediately realising in the confusion that he had been tasered. PC Marsden said he used the ‘soft, laced’ part of his boot – adding that he ‘strongly disputed’ that there was any element of anger or ‘retaliation’.
He also aimed a stamp next to Amaaz’s head – telling the court he had been trying to ‘clamp’ the wire of his police radio, which was hanging loose.
Throughout the altercation, bystanders simply filmed it on their mobile phones, PC Marsden said, describing the watching crowd as ‘hostile’.
Back-up officers then arrived at the scene shouting ‘You f****** move, I’ll smash your f****** face in’ and handcuffed both brothers before they were hauled off for questioning.
Neither made any comment when they were interviewed the following day. Prosecutors had urged jurors to ‘trust their eyes and ears’ over the multiple angles of footage and police officers’ testimony they had seen and heard.
PC Ward (green dot) and Amaaz (red arrow), PC Cook (blue dot), PC Marsden (red dot) and Muhammad Amaad (blue arrow) during the incident last July
All three officers acted in a ‘professional’ manner throughout, they argued, saying claims by the brothers’ defence that the police trio had been ‘out of control’ was ‘false’.
Neither brother has been in trouble with the police before, and six members of the family – including older brother Abid – are current or former officers with Greater Manchester Police.
A former assistant manager at KFC, Amaad himself twice applied unsuccessfully to join the force – including a 999 dispatch role just three months before the airport incident.
Younger brother Amaaz, meanwhile, has since begun studying sport marketing and management at Manchester Metropolitan University.
In court, their defence teams highlighted how the officers did not announce themselves or say why they were attempting to arrest Amaaz. Asked why he resisted arrest, Amaaz said he hadn’t initially realised PC Marsden was a policeman – despite his uniform and cap marked ‘police’ – and was ‘scared’.
As jurors delivered their verdicts after deliberating for ten hours, the public gallery was packed with supporters of the brothers, who stood side by side in the glass-walled dock.
Four uniformed police officers were stationed inside the courtroom but there was no reaction from their supporters.
The 11-strong jury unanimously found Amaaz guilty of ABH against PC Ward and common assault against Mr Ismaeil.
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court, pictured, also found him guilty of assault by beating against holidaymaker Abdulkareem Ismaeil
They convicted him of assault by beating against PC Cook by a majority of ten to one.
However, they could not reach verdicts on allegations that either brother had assaulted PC Marsden causing actual bodily harm.
Amaaz – who did not react as the jury delivered their verdicts – was remanded in custody ahead of a bail application on Thursday.
Afterwards Aamer Anwar, solicitor for the brothers, said: ‘As proceedings are still live it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
