A man caught on CCTV throwing punches at armed police at Manchester Airport on Thursday told a court he resisted arrest because he feared one of them planned to ‘batter me to the point where I was dead’.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was filmed hitting two policewomen and a male officer who were trying to detain him for headbutting a passenger at a Starbucks café minutes earlier.
His brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, was also captured raining punches on Pc Zachary Marsden.
Giving evidence, Amaaz claimed he had believed he was ‘fighting for my life’ during the violence.
In his first account of the incident last July, Amaaz – who answered ‘no comment’ to all questions when interviewed by detectives – said that when he was ‘grabbed’ at a car park pay station he hadn’t realised they were police officers.
Instead he initially thought he was being attacked by someone connected to the passenger he had headbutted and ‘tensed up’.
Questioned by Imran Khan KC, defending, Amaaz told jurors that he quickly realised that Pc Marsden was a police officer.
‘All of a sudden I just remember him grabbing the back of my neck and trying to force me down to the ground,’ he said.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, arriving at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday where he told a jury he fought back as an armed officer tried to arrest him because he feared he planned to ‘batter me to the point where I was dead’
Muhammad Amaad, 26, (left) and his brother Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, (right) arriving for their trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday either side of their solicitor, Aamer Anwar
Pictured: the head injuries Mohammed Fahir Amaaz received during the alleged assault. Giving evidence, Amaaz claimed he had believed he was ‘fighting for my life’ during the violence
Asked why he resisted arrest, Amaaz said he was ‘scared and frightened’ as the officers hadn’t said why they were trying to detain him.
‘I believe if he’d brought me down to the ground he’d have battered me to the point where I was dead and he’d have killed me,’ he said.
Jurors have heard that six members of his family – including his brother Abid – are current or former police officers and that neither Amaaz nor Amaad had never been arrested before.
He insisted that before the incident he had no feelings of ‘hostility’ towards the police and instead felt ‘respect’ for their role.
Asked by his counsel why he fought back, Amaaz said he was aware of cases where police officers had ‘abused their powers and as a result of that people have died’.
‘I believe he’s going to get me down to the ground and once I’m there he’s going to batter me to the point where I’m dead,’ he added.
The trial has heard that at this point his brother Amaad then began subjecting firearms officer Pc Marsden to ‘blows from all directions’.
Amaaz said he hit out at fellow armed officer PC Ellie Cook without realising she was a female officer because she had thrown punches at her brother.
Amaaz (in blue) was seen to throw 10 punches at the officers during the violence, while his brother – Muhammad Amaad (far left), 26, who is also on trial – threw six
Liverpool Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, swinging a punch at Manchester Airport – with PC Lydia Ward hit in the nose
Constable Lydia Ward, who jurors heard is heavily pregnant, last week told of being ‘terrified’ after coming under attack – as footage of her injuries were was shown to a court
He said the officers did not say at any stage that they were arresting him or what they wanted.
Amaaz was filmed punching unarmed PC Lydia Ward in the face, leaving her with a broken nose during the fracas.
Asked why he struck her, Amaaz said he lashed out after feeling a punch in the throat without realising she was another female officer.
‘I just literally feel a punch and instinctively I feel I need to protect myself so I turn and punch at the same time,’ he said.
Amaaz said that as PC Ward fell bleeding to the ground, he was thinking: ‘S*** it’s another officer – when’s it going to stop?’
At that point he said PC Cook ran towards him and he struck out in self-defence before they both fell to the ground.
He then saw PC Marsden aiming his 50,000 volt Taser at his brother, Amaad, but believed it was a gun, he told jurors.
Asked by Mr Khan what he was thinking, Amaaz said: ‘This guy’s about to shoot and kill my brother.’
Pictured: an injury said to have been sustained by Mohammed Fahir Amaaz during the alleged assault
CCTV shows the moment Mohammed Fahir Amaaz grapples with policewomen Lydia Ward (front) and Ellie Cook (behind) after his attempted arrest at Manchester Airport
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (pictured in light blue hooded top) told a jury he struck officers trying to arrest him at Manchester Airport because he was ‘fighting for my life’
PC Ellie Cook points her Taser at Amaaz (pictured on the floor in blue) after he grabbed armed PC Zachary Marsden
PC Zachary Marsden told jurors he was trying to clamp his radio wire with his foot when he stamped his foot next to Amaaz’s head
Police bodyworn camera footage shown to the court shows PC Ward being comforted by PC Ellie Cook
The trial has heard that Amaaz then ran at PC Marsden and put his arm around his neck, only for PC Cook to fire her own Taser at him.
Amaaz said being Tasered made him feel ‘like all the energy has gone out of me’.
‘I felt like the soul’s been sucked out of my body and everything went stiff,’ he said.
It was ‘the worst pain I’ve ever felt’, he added, saying: ‘I felt like I was dying.’
Amaaz said he believed his actions had saved his brother’s life.
The court has been shown footage of PC Marsden kicking Amaaz in the head as he lies on the ground after being Tasered, before aiming a stamp nearby.
In his evidence, PC Marsden denied there was an element of ‘retaliation’ in the kick, saying that in the confusion he hadn’t initially realised the suspect had been Tasered.
Asked by Mr Khan about the kick, Amaaz said: ‘I remember a boot coming straight for my face.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz is seen arriving at Liverpool Crown Court at the start of his trial
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 June 30)
‘I just remember it knocked me unconscious.’
Asked why he responded to the attempted arrest in the way he had, Amaaz replied: ‘Throughout the whole incident me and my brother was under attack.
‘I was trying to protect myself and protect my brother.’
‘It just felt like I was fighting for my life.’
The incident happened after Amaaz and Amaad, both from Rochdale, had gone to collect their mother, who was arriving on a flight from Qatar.
Giving evidence, Amaaz said when he and Amaad – accompanied by their young nephew – met their mother at arrivals she told them the flight had been ‘the worst eight hours of her life’.
She said a fellow passenger had been ‘bothering me non-stop’ and ‘calling me a P*** b*tch again and again’.
Amaaz said as they were walking through the arrivals hall she pointed out the passenger, Abdulkareem Ismaeil.
He said he ‘calmly’ asked Mr Ismaeil to explain but that the passenger said the racial abuse had been aimed at a ‘little girl’ sitting nearby.
Amaaz said he asked the passenger to apologise but Mr Ismaeil threatened to ‘smash you’ and was ‘shouting in my face’.
He said he thought: ‘This man’s going to attack me at any second.’
Amaaz said he reacted by headbutting Mr Ismaeil who ‘stumbled back’ and then threw a punch, which missed.
As Mr Ismaeil allegedly shouted ‘I’ll f****** kill you’, Amaaz said the group decided to leave the airport, overhearing someone shouting ‘wait outside’ into a phone as they exited.
He said as he and his brother were paying for parking as they prepared to drive home he was ‘grabbed’ from both sides.
Amaaz was seen to throw ten punches at the officers during the violence, while his brother threw six.
Amaaz also threw two elbow strikes and kicked the officers, jurors heard.
Amaaz denies assault by beating, two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm, and a charge of assault by beating of a police officer acting as an emergency worker.
Amaad denies one charge of assault causing actual bodily harm relating to PC Marsden.
Jurors have been told they will argue they were acting in self-defence, or the defence of one another.
The trial continues.
