Cop punched in face during Manchester airport brawl says she was ‘absolutely terrified’
During the confrontation, PC Ward told the court that she received a “really forceful” blow to her face and remembers “falling on the floor”.
A police officer whose nose was broken during a physical confrontation with two men at Manchester Airport last year has told court that she was “absolutely terrified”, reported BBC.
The cop, Lydia Ward, suffered a punch to her face as she, along with other police officers, tried to get hold of an assault suspect at the airport on July 23, 2024. She was thrown to the floor due to the forceful punch, shows video of the incident making rounds on social media. The incident happened at the airport’s Terminal 2 car park pay station area.
The accused are identified as Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26.
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The police told the court that PC Ward and her two colleagues had approached Amaaz after receiving reports that a man, who fit his description, had headbutted someone at a Starbucks in the airport’s terminal 2. However, as the police approached him, Amazon resisted and his brother, Amaad also allegedly intervened and inflicted a “high level of violence” on the officers.
What PC Ward told the court
During the confrontation, PC Ward told the court that she received a “really forceful” blow to her face and remembers “falling on the floor and everything went black”.
“I was trying to keep hold of Mr Amaaz’s arm and get it behind his back so I could get some cuffs on him,” she said, reported BBC.
She added that Amaaz punched her while she was trying to stop him from kicking her colleague. “I tried to grab him off so he could stop kicking PC Marsden. All I remember then is that he turned and he punched me straight in the face,” she said.
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“I can’t really remember where it landed but I know where my injuries were. I remember falling on the floor and everything went black.”
She also said that after coming to her senses, she could feel blood pouring out of her area but was unsure what had happened exactly.
“I was terrified to be honest. I was absolutely terrified. I had never experienced that level of violence towards me in my life,” she said, adding that no one at the airport came to their aide.
“Nobody came to assist. I felt everyone in that room was against us. To be honest, I was terrified.”
A video of PC Ward crying and panicking as she bleeds profusely through her nose has surfaced on social media.
What the defendant said
Defence lawyer Rosemary Fernandes, representing Amaaz, argued that her client was taken by surprise during the incident and that PC Ward and her colleagues should have identified themselves as police officers while approaching him. She added that Amaaz behaved the he way did because he thought he was being attacked from behind and acted in “self-defence”.
Speaking to PC Ward, Fernandes said, “I put it to you that the defendant believed he was being attacked from behind and it all happened extremely fast…It is the defence’s case that he punched you in lawful self-defence on the basis that you were an assailant. Do you have any comment on that?”
To which, she replied, “I don’t know how he felt I was an assailant. He turned towards me and punched me in the face…He could see I was a police officer and he could see I was a female as well.”
Man feared he would be ‘battered’ to death by police at Manchester Airport, court hears
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz is accused of assaulting three officers at Manchester Airport last year. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he was acting in self defence of him and his brother.
Friday 18 July 2025 10:00, UK
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.
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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
Manchester Airport CCTV released
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.
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.”
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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.
Both men, from Rochdale, deny the allegations. The trial continues.
Manchester Airport suspect: I had no idea officers I punched were women
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, claimed he ‘needed to protect myself’ when female police officer tried to arrest himGift this article free
A man accused of attacking police at Manchester airport has told a jury he did not know that two of the officers he knocked to the ground were women.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, claims he was acting in self-defence, or in defence of his brother, when he struck out at Pc Lydia Ward, Pc Ellie Cook and Pc Zachary Marsden.
On July 23 last year, the Greater Manchester Police officers entered the Terminal 2 car park pay station after reports that a man fitting Mr Amaaz’s description had headbutted a member of the public inside the airport just minutes before.
Prosecutors say Mr Amaaz resisted arrest and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened as both subjected the officers to a “high level of violence”.
Mr Amaaz has told Liverpool Crown Court that he feared Pc Marsden would “batter him” to death as he said he was grabbed by the head and neck and pushed downwards.
Cross-examining Mr Amaaz on Friday, Paul Greaney KC said: “You were, in simple terms, resisting the attempts of these officers to arrest you?”
Mr Amaaz said: “If those officers wanted to detain me, they could have simply told me so.”
Mr Greaney said: “What did you think they were coming in to do? To come in and murder you?”
Mr Amaaz 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.”
Mr Greaney told jurors that Mr Amaaz went on to kick Pc Marsden as he struggled with Mr Amaad, and that Mr Amaaz then punched Pc Cook to the face. He said: “You knew full well you were punching a woman.”
“No,” said Mr Amaaz.
Mr Greaney said: “She has 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 Amaaz said: “I didn’t know that at this stage.”
Mr Greaney pointed out to Mr Amaaz that he was looking straight in the direction of Pc Ward when he then punched her to the face and broke her nose.
He said: “Is it your position that Pc Ward was part of a group that was trying to murder you?”
Mr Amaaz said: “She was part of that group. I believed Pc Marsden tried to kill me.”
Mr Greaney said: “Do you still believe that now?”
“Yes,” said the defendant.
Mr Greaney said: “The prosecution case is there was absolutely nothing defensive in punching that woman [Pc Ward] in the face. It was offensive and unlawful, and you were wholly out of control.”
Mr Greaney said footage showed Pc Cook approach Mr Amaaz to detain him because of his violence.
Mr Amaaz said: “No, she literally came running at me with her hands raised towards my face. I felt any second now this officer is going to attack me and I needed to protect myself.”
Mr Greaney said: “At your feet is an injured officer and she [Pc Cook] is coming towards you with her hands open. It was obvious she wanted to detain you and stop you committing any further violence.”
Mr Amaaz said: “I was not looking at her face.”
Mr Greaney told the defendant that the footage showed Pc Cook “flinching away” from a punch that was about to land.
Mr Greaney said: “Do you agree that your violence knocked her to the ground?”
Mr Amaaz said: “Yes, I struck her.”
The prosecutor said: “This is the second woman you have hit to the floor within seconds.”
“Yes,” said Mr Amaaz.
Mr Greaney said: “All of those 12 blows were against people you knew virtually from the outset were police officers, that’s what you did that day?”
Mr Amaaz said: “I didn’t know from the start.
“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.”
Mr Amaaz agreed with Mr Greaney that following his arrest he made no comment in his police interview.
Mr Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden and Pc Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of the assault of emergency worker Pc Cook, and the earlier assault of a member of the public, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, at a Starbucks cafe in T2 arrivals.
Mr Amaad is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
Both men, from Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, deny the allegations.
The trial continues on Monday.
