Two brothers attacked armed police officer in Manchester Airport brawl with ‘high level of violence’, court told

TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Both defendants deny wrongdoing, with Amaaz claiming self-defence and Amaad saying he was acting to protect his brother.Jurors heard the violence escalated quickly when three officers arrived at the pay station at around 8.28pm to arrest Amaaz.Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC told the court that within just 30 seconds, the younger defendant struck officers 12 times using kicks, elbow strikes and punches.PC Lydia Ward, who was unarmed, suffered a broken nose after being punched in the face in what the prosecution described as a “cowardly” attack.Armed officer PC Ellie Cook was also struck with what the court heard was “a flurry of blows”.The court heard Amaad repeatedly punched PC Marsden, using what the prosecution described as “a high level of violence”.Both PC Marsden and PC Cook were carrying semi-automatic Glock 17 pistols at the time.The confrontation followed an earlier incident at a Starbucks inside the terminal.CRIME - READ THE LATEST:Transgender child killer freed from US prison 30 years earlySomali asylum seeker who ‘trained with Mo Farah’ is found not guilty of sexually assaulting womanPrimrose Hill murder suspect tells judge 'you have the wrong man' in extraordinary court outburstThe brothers had travelled to Manchester Airport to collect their mother, who had arrived on a flight from Pakistan via Qatar.Jurors heard something had occurred between their mother and Qatari national Abdulkareem Ismaeil during the journey which had upset her.The court heard Amaaz then confronted Mr Ismaeil in the coffee shop, headbutting him and delivering further blows.Jurors were told Amaaz had previously been convicted at an earlier trial of assaulting two female police officers.He was also found guilty of assaulting Mr Ismaeil in a Starbucks shortly before the incident in the airport car park.CCTV and body-worn camera footage captured the incident, which jurors were shown in court.Mr Greaney KC said: “This is not a complicated case. The events were captured on CCTV and body-worn cameras of the police officers. You will be able to see with your own eyes what happened.”The footage showed PC Marsden kicking Amaaz in the face as he lay on the ground, followed by what appeared to be a stamping motion towards his head.The prosecutor accepted the actions “look rather shocking in the cold light of day” but said they must be judged in the context of a serious threat to an officer who feared his firearm could be taken at an international airport.Mr Greaney urged jurors to reject the claim of self-defence.The trial continues.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter