Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, has been convicted of assaulting a member of the public and two female police officers
19:15, 30 Jul 2025Updated 21:06, 30 Jul 2025
A CCTV still of Amaaz punching PC Lydia Ward at Manchester Airport(Image: CPS)
A man attacked two female police officers – after headbutting a member of the public – during a violent bust-up with armed cops at Manchester Airport last summer.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, denied assaulting Abdulkareem Hamzah Abbas Ismaeil in Starbucks in the arrivals hall of Terminal 2, as well as assaulting two female police officers who arrived to arrest him – PCs Lydia Ward and Ellie Cook – in the the car park pay station on July 23 last year.
But Amaaz was found guilty on Wednesday (July 30) following a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Footage shows the moment confrontation breaks out in Manchester Airport car park pay station area
After 10 hours of deliberations across three days, a jury of three women and eight men could not reach verdicts on a charge that he and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 25, assaulted another police officer – PC Zachary Marsden – who the trial heard was captured on CCTV kicking Amaaz in the face.
After jurors announced there was no prospect they could reach verdicts on that charge if they were given more time, Judge Neil Flewitt KC discharged them.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz(Image: GMP)
He told them: “The prosecution will have to decide whether to seek a retrial on count two. They clearly did not know and could not have known what your verdicts were. They have an opportunity to think about that understandably and quite properly they would like some time to do that.”
Moments later, prosecutor Paul Greaney KC announced the Crown would seek a retrial and the case was adjourned until Thursday (July 31) to set a date.
Amaaz was remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date, while Mr Amaad was freed on bail.
A still from CCTV footage shown to trial jurors(Image: CPS)
The trial heard shocking details about the violence, both at Starbucks and later in the car park pay station, all captured on CCTV and police body-worn cameras.
Video was shown during the trial and released to the press. Amaaz was captured throwing 10 punches; two ‘elbow strikes’; and one kick, jurors were told. Police were initially called after he headbutted Mr Ismaeil minutes earlier.
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The defence argued the police were part of an ‘out of control’ team based at the airport and used unlawful force. They claimed the brothers were entitled to defend themselves. Amaaz said he thought he was going to be ‘murdered’ by officers who arrived to arrest him.
PC Lydia Ward was captured on CCTV sobbing after she was punched in the face by Amaaz, who told the jury he was acting in self-defence. The trial heard she underwent corrective surgery to realign her nose.
PC Lydia Ward after she was struck in the face at Manchester Airport
Footage also showed armed officer PC Marsden kicking Amaaz in the face while he was on the ground after the suspect had been Tasered, before appearing to aim a stamp at his head.
He denied he used ‘unlawful force’. He told jurors he had come under attack, feared his Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol would be removed and that his conduct was ‘professional’.
From left, PCs Zachary Marsden, Ellie Cook and Lydia Ward (Image: GMP)
Prosecution counsel Mr Greaney KC told the trial: “Those actions look rather shocking in the cold light of day, but we suggest they need to be judged in the context of the very serious level of threat posed by the defendants to an officer who was concerned that his firearm might be taken from him at an airport.”
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Footage played to the jury showed the brothers’ mother earlier pointing out Mr Ismaeil at Starbucks in T2 after she had been picked up by the her sons and grandson.
The brothers told the trial their mother had pointed out Mr Ismaeil following her flight. They demanded an apology following alleged disruption on the plane, it was said. Mr Ismaeil refused and was alleged to have shouted ‘do you know who I am?’ and ‘I’ll f***ing kill you’.
CCTV footage of the incident
The brothers’ mother Shameem Akhtar, the trial heard, told Amaaz her flight had been ‘the worst eight hours of her life’ and that a man had been ‘bothering her non stop’ and had called her a ‘P**i b**h’.
Mr Ismaeil told him in English ‘go from here’, while his wife insisted the comments on board the plane were directed to a ‘little girl’ on board, not his mother, the jurors were told. That made the situation ‘ten times worse’, said Amaaz.
Amaaz was captured on CCTV headbutting Mr Ismaeil before throwing a left and a right punch. He said he was acting in self-defence.
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Armed police were called to the scene. They spoke to Mr Ismaeil and attempted to detain Amaaz in the pay station of the car park, the trial heard.
PCs Marsden and Ward, who had been informed a man in a blue tracksuit had headbutted a man at Starbucks, walked into the pay station and each grabbed hold of an arm of Amaaz, the jurors were told.
The court heard PC Marsden suffered ‘post-concussion syndrome’; had severe headaches for three days; episodes of dizziness; forgetfulness; difficulties in talking; and bruising and swelling.
Lawyer Aamer Anwar, centre, arrives at an earlier hearing with Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, left, and Muhammed Amaad, right(Image: Peter Powell/PA Wire)
PC Ward had to have her nose realigned during surgery after she was punched in the face by Amaaz. She was captured sobbing uncontrollably and bleeding from her nose and mouth in police body-cam footage moments after the punch, the trial heard.
PC Cook was checked over by a paramedic when she returned to a police station that night after suffering swelling to her temple and pain in her jaw from a flying elbow, jurors were told.
Amaaz, who was studying sport marketing and management at Manchester Metropolitan University, told the trial police failed to announce themselves when they grabbed him at the pay station and he thought initially he was being attacked by people summoned by Mr Ismaeil.
He admitted he realised it was police officers moments later, but alleged he and his brother were coming under attack from them and, when a cop aimed a Taser stun gun at his brother, he thought his sibling was about to be shot.
Body cam footage of PC Ward shown to the jury
He told the jury: “Throughout the whole incident me and my brother was under attack. I was trying to protect myself and protect him and I just felt I was fighting for my life.”
Mr Amaad, a former assistant manager at KFC who went on to work as a ‘case manager’ at Virgin Media, told the jury he was forced to defend himself, adding: “I just felt to myself ‘I’m not dying today’. I have been punched, I have been Tasered, I am not going to die today.”
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The trial heard Mr Amaad twice applied to join GMP where another sibling, Mohammed Abid, is a serving officer. The sibling penned a glowing character reference read to the jury for his accused brothers.
The court heard the brothers’ uncle Nazir Hussain had retired after serving 30 years as an officer with GMP, inspiring others in the family including Mr Abid to join the police.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
As he left court with Mr Amaad, the brothers’ lawyer Aamer Anwar told reporters: “As proceedings are still live, it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”
Amaaz denied assaulting Mr Ismaeil. He denied a second charge that he assaulted PC Marsden causing actual bodily harm. The defendant denied a third charge alleging he assaulted PC Lydia Ward causing actual bodily harm. He denied a fourth charge alleging he assaulted, by beating, an emergency worker, PC Ellie Cook.
The defendant was found guilty of assaulting Mr Ismaeil and the two female police officers. The jury could not reach a verdict on a charge that he assaulted PC Marsden.
Co-defendant Amaad denied a single charge, namely that he also assaulted PC Marsden. The jury could not reach a verdict on this charge.
Following the hearing, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Stephen Watson said: “While disappointed that the prosecution case was not fully endorsed, I welcome the findings of the jury in respect of the convicted offender, whose appalling conduct has now been exposed to legitimate public scrutiny.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz arrives at Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Getty Images)
“I am grateful to the prosecution team, and to those investigating officers from GMP who have worked hard to assist the court in enabling justice to be done in respect of those counts where a verdict was reached.
“GMP is actively supportive of a retrial in respect of the two counts where a verdict was not achieved. We remain fully committed to providing the prosecution team with every assistance needed to reach an outcome on these matters.
“Our officers first approached the man now convicted in order to make an arrest following the unprovoked assault on an innocent man in the presence of his wife and children. They 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 GM – such attacks can never be justified. 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.”