Police Officer Says She Was “Absolutely Terrified” After Violent Assault at Manchester Airport

A police officer testified that she was “absolutely terrified” after being punched in the face and knocked to the ground during an attempted arrest at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2.

PC Lydia Ward, of Greater Manchester Police, told a jury at Liverpool Crown Court that she suffered a broken nose after being struck while trying to detain 20-year-old Mohammed Fahir Amaaz on July 23, 2023. The arrest followed a report that Amaaz had allegedly headbutted a customer at a nearby Starbucks café.

According to PC Ward, Amaaz resisted arrest, and his older brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened, leading to what prosecutors described as a “high level of violence” directed at the officers involved.

“It just went from nought to a hundred,” PC Ward said, recalling how Amaaz began resisting as she and two colleagues, PCs Zachary Marsden and Ellie Cook, tried to handcuff him. She described how the scene quickly turned chaotic, with both suspects allegedly attacking the officers.

During the struggle, Ward said she was punched forcefully in the face. “All I remember then is that he turned and he punched me straight in the face,” she said. “Everything went black. I was just thinking he has done something to my nose, face area — I didn’t know what had happened.”

Ward, who joined the police in 2018, said she had never before experienced such violence. “As I came round, all I could feel was blood pouring out of my nose,” she told the jury. “I was terrified… I didn’t know who was going to come up at me next.”

She also recalled trying to radio for help, only to find the battery had been knocked loose by the punch. She said bystanders were filming and shouting, but no one offered assistance.

The courtroom heard that a Taser was deployed during the altercation and that Ward later used Pava spray to hold off additional individuals approaching the scene.

Amaaz is accused of assaulting three officers, including PC Ward and PC Marsden, as well as a Starbucks customer earlier that day. His brother Amaad is charged with assault causing actual bodily harm against PC Marsden. Both men, from Rochdale, deny all charges.

The trial continues.