I actually thought I am going to be one of those people that day
In a Liverpool courtroom, a young man from Rochdale attempts to reframe a violent confrontation at Manchester Airport not as an assault, but as a desperate act of survival. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, testified that when a firearms officer seized him without explanation in July 2024, fear — shaped by a broader awareness of police violence — overtook reason. The trial asks the jury to weigh the law's account of force against one man's account of terror, in a case where both sides claim they were the ones under threat.
- A routine arrest at Manchester Airport's Terminal 2 erupted into a violent struggle that left two officers injured — one with a broken nose, another thrown over a baggage trolley.
- Amaaz insists he had no idea he was being arrested, experiencing the officers' physical force as an unprovoked and potentially lethal attack.
- His invocation of real-world cases of police brutality adds a charged social dimension to what prosecutors frame as straightforward criminal assault.
- The defendant's brother also stands accused, and Amaaz claims witnessing his brother being struck triggered the escalation of his own response.
- A Taser discharge ended the confrontation, but Amaaz alleges he was then kicked in the face while already incapacitated — a claim that remains unresolved before the jury.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz took the witness stand at Liverpool Crown Court and told the jury he believed he was going to die. The 21-year-old from Rochdale was recounting the moment in July 2024 when a firearms officer grabbed his arm at Manchester Airport's Terminal 2, pushing his head toward a payment machine. He said he didn't know why police were there, didn't know he was being arrested — only that the force being used against him felt overwhelming and potentially fatal.
Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, are jointly accused of assaulting PC Zachary Marsden with a high level of violence. Officers had approached Amaaz to arrest him after he allegedly headbutted a customer in the arrivals hall. When PCs Marsden, Ward, and Cook moved in, Amaaz resisted, and his brother intervened. Both men deny the charge.
Testifying through barrister Imran Khan KC, Amaaz described a cascade of fear and reaction. He said he felt the officer's hand over his head and neck and became convinced that if forced to the ground, he would be beaten to death. He cited awareness of cases where police had abused their powers with fatal results, and said he feared becoming one of those victims. When he saw his brother being struck by officers, he stopped thinking and started acting.
He punched PC Ward — breaking her nose — and struck PC Cook, who was knocked over a baggage trolley. He said he hit PC Ward after a punch to his own throat left him gasping, and continued striking PC Cook until she was no longer advancing. He then punched PC Marsden in the head, believing the officer was pointing a gun at his brother, unaware it was a Taser. Seconds later, PC Cook discharged the Taser and Amaaz fell. He claims that as he lay on the ground, an officer's boot connected with his face, and everything went dark. The trial continues as the jury weighs those violent seconds against competing claims of threat and response.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz sat in the witness box at Liverpool Crown Court and told the jury something that cut to the heart of his defense: he thought he was going to die. The 21-year-old was describing the moment in July 2024 when a firearms officer grabbed his arm at Manchester Airport's Terminal 2, pushing his head toward a payment machine. He didn't know why the police were there. He didn't know he was being arrested. All he knew, he said, was the force.
Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, both of Rochdale, are accused of assaulting PC Zachary Marsden with a high level of violence at the car park pay station. The incident began when officers approached Amaaz to arrest him after he allegedly headbutted a customer in the arrivals hall. When PC Marsden, along with PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook, moved in to take him into custody, Amaaz resisted. His brother then intervened. What followed, prosecutors say, was an assault on the officer. Both men deny the charge.
Testifying through his barrister Imran Khan KC, Amaaz painted a picture of confusion and fear. He said that as soon as he felt the grab and turned to see a police officer, he was pushed hard into the machine. PC Marsden's hand was over his head and neck. The force felt overwhelming. "I was just thinking 'why is this guy using so much force?'" Amaaz told the court. He said he believed that if the officer forced him to the ground, he would be beaten until he couldn't breathe. He would die. When Khan asked why he would fear that from a police officer, Amaaz invoked a broader context: "It's not like these things have not happened before when a police officer abuses their powers and, as a result, people have died." He believed that day he would become one of those people.
What happened next unfolded in seconds. Amaaz heard his brother shouting "Easy, easy, easy," asking the officers to calm down. He looked over and saw his brother being struck in the face by two officers. In that moment, he said, he didn't process details. He acted. He punched PC Ward, who sustained a broken nose from the blow and was knocked to the ground. He struck PC Cook, who was thrown over a baggage trolley. He said he hit PC Ward after feeling a punch to his own throat that left him gasping for air. When PC Cook ran toward him with her hands raised, he punched her repeatedly until she was no longer a threat. He then punched PC Marsden to the side of the head, believing the officer was aiming a gun at his brother—though it was actually a Taser.
Seconds later, PC Cook discharged the Taser. Amaaz fell. What came next, according to his account, was a boot coming straight at his face. He said he saw it coming and then everything went black. When he came to, he said, it was because the force of the kick was pushing him downward into the floor. His barrister asked if he was trying to get up when the kick came. Amaaz said no—he had simply turned toward the sound of shouting. The trial continues, with the jury still to hear the full account of what happened in those violent seconds at the airport.
Citações Notáveis
The way he was grabbing my neck, I just felt that if this guy forces me to the ground he is going to beat me up to the point where I cannot breathe and I will be dead.— Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, defendant
It's not like these things have not happened before when a police officer abuses their powers and, as a result, people have died.— Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, explaining his fear
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When he says he didn't know why police were there, do you believe that's possible? That no one told him?
In chaotic moments, especially when you're being grabbed, communication breaks down. He says nothing was said to him before the force started. Whether that's true is for the jury, but it's plausible in a sudden arrest.
He invokes police brutality deaths to justify his fear. Isn't that asking the jury to excuse violence because of what other officers have done?
He's not excusing it—he's explaining his state of mind. He's saying he genuinely believed he was in danger. That's his defense: he didn't know these were police trying to arrest him; he thought he was being attacked.
But he'd already been convicted of assaulting two of these same officers. How does that sit with his claim he didn't know they were police?
It complicates his credibility, certainly. The jury knows he's been found guilty before of assaulting PC Ward and PC Cook. Now he's saying he didn't realize they were female, that it happened too fast to process details. The jury has to weigh whether that's believable.
The Taser confusion—he thought an officer was pointing a gun at his brother?
That's what he claims. He says he punched PC Marsden because he believed the officer was aiming a gun. It's a claim about what he perceived in a moment of chaos, not what was actually happening.
And the kick to the face at the end—does his account of being unconscious change anything legally?
It goes to the question of whether he was still a threat when he was kicked. If he was on the ground, turning toward noise, not resisting, then a kick to the head becomes harder to justify as necessary force. But again, the jury has to decide what actually happened.