Man who punched female police officers at Manchester Airport jailed

A man who punched two female police officers at Manchester Airport as they tried to arrest him for headbutting a man in a Starbucks cafe has been jailed for three and a half years.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, from Rochdale, was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court last year of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, PC Ellie Cook and a Starbucks customer at the airport in July 2024.

Sentencing had been delayed for a re-trial on additional charges that Amaaz had also assaulted a male police officer - PC Zachary Marsden - but the jury again failed to reach a decision and he was cleared.

In a statement read to the court earlier Ward, whose nose was broken in the attack, said: "What you did was cowardly."

Judge Neil Flewitt KC, passing sentence, told Amaaz he was the "aggressor" and said both assaults were "prolonged and unprovoked".

The court heard the fracas, outside Terminal 2, was recorded in footage widely circulated on social media.

It had initially sparked protests against the police after a short clip showed Marsden appearing to kick Amaaz in the head while he was on the ground.

The court heard that officer is facing an investigation from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), although the watchdog declined to comment further.

CCTV footage was later leaked to the media showing events leading up to the arrest, including Amaaz punching Ward and Cook to the ground.

Ward, who has since been promoted to sergeant, took to the witness stand and told Amaaz: "Take away that I am a police officer. Look at me, standing here.

"What do you see? I'll tell you what you see. You see a female. A female who is 5ft2 and at the time of the incident I weighed no more than eight stone.

"You are a male and you chose to attack me without a second thought. You chose to attack a female. You knocked me to the ground with one punch, with so much force you broke my nose."

Cook's statement, read by prosecutor Paul Greaney KC, revealed that the trauma of the incident had led her to give up being a firearms officer.

"Each of our faces were plastered all over national news," she said.

"Everyone knew who we were. I had to move out of my home, a home where I felt safe and secure. For what? For doing my job?"

The officers had responded to reports that a male fitting Amaaz's description had headbutted the Starbucks customer, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, minutes earlier on 23 July 2024.

Prosecutors said Amaaz resisted their attempts to take him outside and he went on to use a "high level of violence".

Cook's statement described her feeling "excruciating pain with each blow".

The officer she was still physically suffering, and has "shooting pains" in her jaw whenever she yawns, along with regular headaches and problems with sleeping.

Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would not pursue a third trial against Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, who faced a single count of assaulting PC Marsden, and they were formally acquitted by the judge.

The brothers had claimed they acted in lawful self-defence, or in defence of the other, during the brawl.

In December 2024 the CPS announced no police officer would face criminal charges over the incident, which led to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) lifting the suspension of Marsden from all duties.

GMP chief constable Sir Stephen Watson said the force would fully co-operate with the IOPC investigation.

"Our officers were responding quickly to precisely the sort of outrageous criminal behaviour that rightly offends the public," he said.

"In undertaking their duties, officers were met with resistance and violence; followed by online vilification, condemnation and adverse commentary from those who did not have the full facts."

He said 35 GMP officers are assaulted "every week" and added: "Such incidents can never be justified."

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