The jury in the re-trial of two brothers accused of assaulting an armed police officer at Manchester Airport has been discharged after they failed to reach verdicts.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, were both on trial accused of assaulting PC Zachary Marsden. They denied the single charge and claimed they were acting in self-defence.
Mr Amaaz was previously convicted of assaulting two police officers and a member of the public in the same incident, trial jurors heard. Mr Amaaz and Mr Amaad were accused of assaulting PC Marsden, occasioning him actual bodily harm.
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On Wednesday (May 20), jurors said they could not agree on any verdicts in respect of either of the defendants after deliberating for around 19 hours and 48 minutes, and after being told they could reach majority verdicts.
Prosecutors asked the judge for time to consider their position and to decide whether they will seek another re-trial. A further hearing has been scheduled for May 29.
Judge Flewitt told jurors: “You are, as I’m sure you’re aware, not the first jury to consider the case. You are not the first jury to fail to reach a verdict in relation to this particular count. I don’t want you to feel in any way you have failed.
“The prosecution will now consider their position and decide whether they want to ask me to have a further trial, which will be unusual but not unknown.”
Solicitor Aamer Anwar spoke to reporters outside Liverpool Crown Court alongside Muhammad Amaad after jurors were discharged(Image: M.E.N.)
The trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard the siblings, both of Tarnside Close, Rochdale, had earlier attended the airport to pick up their mother. Mr Amaaz assaulted a man named Abdulkareem Ismaeil in a branch of Starbucks at the airport, after his mother had ‘some form of disagreement’ with Mr Ismaeil on a flight back to the UK from Pakistan via Qatar. Mr Amaaz has claimed his mother was racially abused by Mr Ismaeil on the flight.
Mr Amaaz then assaulted two police officers in a pay station at terminal two, after they were called following the incident on July 23, 2024.
At a previous trial last year, Mr Amaaz was convicted of assaulting Mr Ismaeil in Starbucks, and of assaulting two female police officers, PC Ellie Cook and PC Lydia Ward. Unarmed officer PC Ward was left in tears after breaking her nose and bleeding ‘profusely’.
PC Cook suffered ‘relatively minor injuries’. PC Marsden was said to have suffered a ‘post-concussion syndrome’, which is said to have included a ‘severe headache for three days’, and episodes of ‘dizziness’ and ‘forgetfulness,’ and difficulties in talking and also bruising and swelling.
During the fracas, PC Marsden kicked Mr Amaaz to the face and brought his foot down to his head in a ‘stamping motion’, the court heard.
Giving evidence in his defence, Mr Amaaz said thought he could end up ‘dead’ when he was ‘grabbed’ by PC Marsden during the incident. “I was thinking ‘why is this guy using so much force?’,” he said. “The way he was grabbing my neck, I thought ‘this guy forces me down to the ground he is going to beat me, he’s going to beat me to the point I can’t breathe and I am dead’.”
Mr Amaad denied acting ‘offensively’ towards PC Marsden and said he believed he was under attack. Mr Amaad said that when he saw PC Marsden’s gun he raised his arms and put his hands on his head.
“I just thought ‘I don’t want to die today, I don’t want to get shot’,” Mr Amaad told the court.
Following the hearing, solicitor Aamer Anwar – who represents Mr Amaaz and Mr Amaad spoke outside court. He said: “My name is Aamer Anwar, solicitor acting on behalf of the family. I’m instructed to make this statement on behalf of Fahir Amaaz, aged 21, and Muhammed Amaad, aged 26, following today’s verdict.
“This jury, after 19 hours and 48 minutes and a five-week trial failed to reach a verdict regarding either defendant and has been discharged.
“The court will reconvene on the 29th of May for the Crown to advise this court on whether there will be any further proceedings. It will be inappropriate to comment until the further date on Friday 29th May. Thank you.”