THIS is the moment a man headbutted a passenger at Manchester Airport before he and his brother attacked armed cops with a “high level of violence” , a court heard.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, allegedly lashed out at three officers – leaving one with a broken nose.
Video showed one of the brothers headbutting a passenger before the brawl, a court heard[/caption]
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, left, and Muhammed Amaad, right, are accused of assaulting police at Manchester Airport[/caption]
Jurors heard cops had been scrambled to deal with the pair following an earlier altercation at a Starbucks in the airport.
Footage played to the court showed Amaaz headbutting a passenger and punching him on July 23.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the man, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, had some sort of incident with Amaaz and Amaad’s mum while they either on the same flight or shortly after it.
Paul Greaney KC said: “The defendants met their mother in the arrivals area of Terminal 2 and began to walk to the car park with her and the child that was with them. As they did so, they passed a Starbucks coffee house.
“Abdulkareem Ismaeil was in there with his wife and children. The defendants’ mother spotted Abdulkareem Ismaeil and pointed him out to her sons.
“At just after 8.20pm, the defendants entered Starbucks and confronted Abdulkareem Ismaeil. During that confrontation, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz delivered a headbutt to the face of Abdulkareem Ismaeil and punched him, then attempted to deliver other blows, all in front of a number of children.
“The prosecution case is that this was obviously unlawful conduct.”
The court heard PC Zachary Marsden and PC Ellie Cook – both armed – and PC Lydia Ward, who was unarmed, were in the airport at the time.
They approached the brothers in the Terminal 2 car park and attempted to move Amaaz away from a pay machine to arrest him.
But Amaaz “resisted” – causing his sibling to then intervene before the pair assaulted PC Marsden, it was said.
Mr Greaney said: “In the moments that followed, the first defendant also assaulted PC Cook and then PC Ward too, breaking her nose.
“The defendants used a high level of violence.”
Jurors were played CCTV footage that showed Amaaz holding PC Marsden “round the neck” before he dragged the officer to the ground with him.
He then “raised and moved his head” towards PC Marsden, who responded by kicking him in the face.
The footage showed what appeared to be a stamp aimed by the cop at Amaaz as he lay on the ground.
The brothers had been picking their mum up when they were allegedly involved in the altercation[/caption]
Footage showed the alleged bust-up in the Starbucks[/caption]
Mr Greaney said: “We recognise 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.
“In any event, those actions all occurred after the violence of the defendants.
“The position of the prosecution is that they are logically irrelevant to the lawfulness of the conduct of Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and Muhammad Amaad as charged in the indictment.
“What you have seen is the two defendants acting offensively, not defensively. The position of the prosecution is that their apparent defence of self-defence is false.”
Jurors heard PC Marsden suffered “post-concussion syndrome” and was left with a “severe headache” for three days, dizziness, forgetfulness and bruising and swelling.
PC Ward was captured in bodycam footage sobbing with her mouth filled with blood moments after the horror.
She was left with a broken nose and needed surgery under general anaesthetic, it was said.
Mr Greaney said “given the number of punches thrown by the first defendant at PC Cook’s head and face, she was fortunate only to receive relatively minor injuries to her forehead and jaw.”
He told jurors the prosecution’s position was this was “not a complicated case”.
He also said the violence was entirely unlawful and delivered out of “anger” and not in self-defence.
The prosecutor added: “The events you are concerned with were captured by CCTV cameras and, in relation to the events in the payment area on the body-worn cameras of police officers as well.
“So you will not have to depend only on the recollections of witnesses. You will also be able to see with your own eyes what happened.
“The two defendants assert, as we understand it, that at all stages they were acting in lawful self-defence or in defence of the other.
“Our prediction is that you will readily conclude that the defendants were not acting in lawful self-defence and that their conduct was unlawful.”
Amaaz denies assaulting PC Marsden and PC Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of the assault of PC Cook and the earlier assault of Abdulkareem Ismaeil at Starbucks.
Amaad has pleaded not guilty to assaulting PC Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
The trial continues.
Amaaz allegedly broke a police officer’s nose[/caption]
Amaad has denied the charges[/caption]
