Latest news with #PCZacharyMarsden
Sky News
3 days ago
- Sky News
Man accused of assaulting police at Manchester Airport says he didn't know two officers were women
A man accused of assaulting three police officers at Manchester Airport last year has told a court he did not know two of them were women. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, is accused of assaulting the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers as they attempted to arrest him in the Terminal 2 car park on 23 July 2024. PC Zachary Marsden and PC Ellie Cook, as well as PC Lydia Ward, tried to detain him for allegedly headbutting a man in an airport Starbucks. Prosecutors say Amaaz resisted arrest and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened. 2:30 Amaaz previously told Liverpool Crown Court he was acting in self-defence and feared he would be "battered" to death by PC Marsden. Appearing before the court on Friday, Amaaz was asked if he was resisting arrest, and said: "If those officers wanted to detain me they could have simply told me so." He then said: "These officers had come and literally forced me straight into the ticket machine. They didn't give me a second to think. "My brother intervenes because this officer is trying to force me down to the ground." 0:40 'This has happened so quickly' Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told the court Amaaz kicked PC Marsden as he struggled with his brother, and that Amaaz then punched PC Cook to the face. The prosecutor then said "you knew full well you were punching a woman," which Amaaz denied, adding: "I didn't know that at this stage." The prosecutor noted CCTV footage showed Amaaz strike PC Cook with his elbow and knock her cap off, and told him: "She has got long blonde hair in a ponytail, I ask you to acknowledge that you knew you were delivering blows to the face of a woman?" Mr Greaney also noted that, according to footage, Amaaz was looking in the direction of PC Ward when he punched her and broke her nose. "Can I invite you to acknowledge that you knew obviously she was a woman," he said, "a woman with long red hair?" Amaaz responded: "Not at this moment, no. This has happened so quickly. It is a matter of seconds." Mr Greaney then asked whether Amaaz believed PC Ward and PC Cook were attempting to murder him, to which Amaaz said: "A police officer had struck me I thought. "I was trying to protect myself... She [PC Ward] was part of that group. I believed PC Marsden tried to kill me." 2:40 Officers were 'trying to kill us' The prosecutor told the court that "there was absolutely nothing defensive in punching that woman [PC Ward] in the face" and said Amaaz was "wholly out of control" - which he denied. Amaaz then said: "These were police officers who were attacking me and my brother again and again, trying to kill us. "This lunatic [PC Marsden] booted me in the head and stamped on me. If that's not enough he elbowed my mother in the face with a Taser. "And if that's not enough he punched my brother in the back of the head twice." Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Ward and PC Marsden, causing them actual bodily harm. He is also accused of the assault of PC Cook and the earlier assault in Starbucks of Abdulkareem Ismaeil. Amaad is alleged to have assaulted PC Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Sky News
Man feared he would be 'battered' to death by police at Manchester Airport, court hears
A man has told a court he feared he would be "battered" to death by police at Manchester Airport. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, is accused of assaulting three Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers as they attempted to arrest him last year. The incident happened in the Terminal 2 car park on 23 July. PC Zachary Marsden and PC Ellie Cook, as well as PC Lydia Ward, tried to detain him for allegedly headbutting a man in an airport Starbucks. Footage shows him resisting and a brawl breaking out involving police, himself and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26. Another video shows PC Marsden kick his head and stamp near him. 2:30 Fears PC 'would have killed me' Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court heard Amaaz give evidence on Thursday, where he said he was acting in self-defence and in defence of his brother after he was grabbed at the ticket machine with no explanation. Amaaz said he recognised an officer - identified as PC Marsden - had a hold of his left arm, and told the court: "At first he grabs me and then he just forces me against the ticket machine. "All of a sudden, I remember him grabbing the back of my neck and trying to force me to the ground... I was frightened. "I just didn't want to go down to the ground. Honestly, I believed if he took me to the ground, I thought he would have battered me to the point where I was dead and he would have killed me." Amaaz then told the court he was fearful as "some police officers have abused their powers" to fatal consequences, and said he resisted as a result. When asked if he thought there was a "legitimate reason" for grabbing him, Amaaz said he "would have expected them to give me that reason and communicated to us in some way". Punch at PC 'just to stop attack' He told the court he saw his brother being punched in the face "repeatedly," before going on to strike the two female officers. Both officers were knocked to the ground, with PC Ward suffering a broken nose. Amaaz said he kicked out at one of the officers to "get him away" from his brother and then punched PC Cook for the same reason. He hit PC Ward after he felt a punch go towards his throat, he said, adding he punched "just to stop the attack" and to "protect myself". Amaaz then told the court he saw PC Marsden pointing what he thought was a gun - which was in fact a Taser - at his brother. He then ran towards PC Marsden and struck him from behind before PC Cook fired her Taser at him, before saying he thought he was "dying" as he and the male officer fell backwards. 2:40 Kick from officer 'knocked me out' While on the ground, Amaaz was kicked in the head by PC Marsden, who was seen to stamp near him afterwards. "I remember hearing shouting from one side and lifting my head to see who is shouting," he said. "I remember a boot coming straight for my face. "As soon as it hit me it knocked me out for a few seconds and I think the stamp woke me up." He said he did not see the stamp, but felt a "sort of shove downwards to the floor," and added that he had no hostility towards the police and that another brother, Abid, was a serving GMP officer. "Throughout the whole incident, me and my brother was under attack," he told the court. "I was trying to protect myself and him. I just felt I was fighting for my life." Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Ward and PC Marsden, causing them actual bodily harm. He is also accused of the assault of PC Cook and the earlier assault in Starbucks of Abdulkareem Ismaeil. Amaad is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
One of two brothers on trial for violent clash with cops at Manchester airport says he feared they'd both be killed
ONE of two brothers in a violent clash with police at an airport said yesterday he feared they would both be killed. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz told a court he lashed out in fear when grabbed without warning by an armed officer. 2 He said he resisted only as he was being forced to the ground by PC Zachary Marsden. The 20-year-old added: 'I thought he was going to batter me to the point I was dead. He would have killed me. 'It's not like it hasn't happened before when police officers have abused their powers and people have died.' Amaaz said that he later saw his brother, Muhammed Amaad, being punched repeatedly and an officer pointing a gun at him. The jury has been told it was PC Marsden with a Taser. Amaaz told the court: 'Honestly, I thought this guy was going to shoot my brother.' The fight broke out as police swooped on the pair at Manchester airport in July last year. It followed a row between the brothers and a man who allegedly insulted their mother on her flight from Pakistan. Amaaz aimed a punch that broke PC Lydia Ward's nose before he was tasered by PC Ellie Cook and kicked in the head by PC Marsden. Amaaz denies four assault charges while his brother Amaad, 26, denies a charge of assaulting PC Marsden. The brothers, from Rochdale, claim they were acting in self-defence. Their trial continues at Liverpool crown court.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- BBC News
PC denies losing control in Manchester Airport brawl, trial hears
A police officer has denied he "lost control" in the aftermath of being allegedly assaulted by two brothers at Manchester Fahir Amaaz, 20, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, are said to have struck out after police were called to a reported assault at the Starbucks cafe in Terminal 2 arrivals on July 23 last year, when Mr Amaaz is said to have headbutted a at Liverpool Crown Court were shown a photograph of injuries to the face of the defendants' mother, said to have been caused as PC Zachary Marsden attempted to arrest Mr Amaaz at the terminal car Marsden said it was "unclear" if his actions that caused her injuries. PC Marsden said: "I believe I was not the only person who made contact with Mrs Akhtar."CCTV footage played to the jury showed Mrs Akhtar knelt near to her son on the floor after a Taser discharge knocked him down. Cross-examining PC Marsden, Imran Khan KC, defending Mr Amaaz suggested that the officer caused Mrs Akhtar's injuries by hitting her with a Marsden said: "I firmly believe that you can't wholly attribute my actions to those injuries."Mr Khan said: "Did you push the Taser you were holding into Mrs Akhtar at the time she was tending to Mr Amaaz?"PC Marsden said he did, and that he felt it was justified "in the circumstances". He said the mother grabbed his left leg, and when he tried to remove her grip she "clamped" onto his left hand pulling him forward."I was being pulled over Mr Amaaz and at risk of falling on top of him and being vulnerable," he Khan said: "She was concerned for Mr Amaaz. She was not a threat. She was not interfering with anything you were doing and this was conduct, I suggest, where you have lost control."PC Marsden said: "I would deny that." 'Beyond reasoning' Mobile phone footage was also played to the jury of PC Marsden later using Pava spray on a bystander who he said was effectively "shielding" another man who officers wanted to detain for obstructing their Marsden told the court he did this because events were "beyond verbal reasoning".The officer was then seen to grab the man around the neck and pull him to the floor, Mr Khan Khan said: "How do you justify putting your hands around a man's neck?"PC Marsden said: "Immediately prior, I had been subjected to the most violent assault of my life."I was now terrified that we are on the tipping point of another volatile situation. They were complicit in watching us being violently assaulted."I used pre-emptive force. I was in pain, exhausted and wanted to try the best I could to effect an arrest."When Mr Khan asked if the bystander was doing anything that required Pava spray in the face, PC Marsden said he was concerned that he would be "combative" which could lead to another "hostile fight".Mr Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Marsden and PC Lydia Ward, causing them actual bodily is also accused of the assault of PC Ellie Cook and the earlier Starbucks assault of Abdulkareem Amaad is alleged to have assaulted PC Marsden, causing actual bodily men, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny the allegations. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
