Man guilty of airport attack on police officers

During a large violent protest at Manchester Airport, a student was found guilty of attacking two female police officers. During the fracas on July 23, last year, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was charged with assaulting the Greater Manchester Police officers, with mobile phone video of the incident being widely posted on social media. Amaaz was found guilty of assaulting PC Lydia Ward, causing real bodily harm, and the harassment of emergency worker PC Ellie Cook following a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. The jury was unable to reach a decision after ten hours of deliberating on charges that Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Amahd, 26 assaulted PC Zachary Marsden caused real bodily harm.

Prosecutors are now demanding a retrial on those charges. Abdulkareem Ismaeil, a public servant, was also found guilty of an earlier attack at a Starbucks cafe in the airport's arrivals area earlier in the day. Following reports of a male fitting Amaaz's description headbutting a citizen, the court heard how PC Zachary Marsden, PC Lydia Ward, and PC Ellie Cook had entered the airport parking garage.

Before the continuing violence broke out, prosecutor Amaaz said he had resisted after being apprehended from behind at a car park ticket machine. He was seen to floor PC Ward with a punch to the nose that cracked her nose, and also knocked PC Cook to the ground. He was also suspected of punching PC Marsden from behind and then grabbed the PC from behind before he was disarmed by a Taser unit from PC Cook. In the video, a kick and stamp by PC Marsden as Amaaz lay on the ground was also visible. Both defendants, who live in Rochdale, told the court that they had committed lawful self-defense or in defense of each other. While Amaaz said he was under attack, he feared the lunatic male cop would batter him to death, when Amah said if he wasn't under attack When they grabbed Amaaz from behind without announcing themselves, the defense said the cops used "unlawful power.

After a very strong blow to her face, the court heard that PC Ward suffered a broken nose in the incident, during which she recalls falling on the ground and everything went black.All I could feel was blood pouring out of my nose as I came round,

PC Ward said. I was just hoping he had done something to my nose and face area, but I wasn't aware what had happened.

I was terrified to be honest. I was absolutely terrified. I had never been exposed to such brutality in my life. Amaaz's conviction, according to Mike Peake, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, represented the "worst side of police service our officers are dealing with.

'Bloodied and bruised'

Police officers in Manchester work in a challenging, volatile, and dynamic environment in which there is no such thing as a normal occurrence. They do need help with the public and politicians' jobs,

he said. Every week, [three-five] officers are assaulted in Greater Manchester Police. We are bloodied and we are bruised.

We've been supporting the officers involved in the Manchester Airport shooting last summer that has been ongoing. We will continue to do so as a federation.

The service was

actively in favour of a retrial in respect of the two counts in which a verdict was not obtained,

Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said.

Our cops are good people who routinely place themselves in jeopardy

in order to shield the public, he said. They deserve our respect and support. "I am particularly grateful to those many members of the public who have contacted the police in order to pass on their best wishes to the officers concerned.