MANCHESTER — Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, from Rochdale, was sentenced to three and a half years in jail after being convicted of common assault and two counts of actual bodily harm. The conviction followed a four-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, stemming from an incident at a Starbucks in Manchester Airport on 23 July 2024.

During the confrontation, Amaaz assaulted PC Lydia Ward, PC Ellie Cook, and Starbucks customer Abdulkareem Ismaeil. Footage played for the jury showed Amaaz head-butting a member of the public. He also threw 10 punches, two elbow strikes, and one kick at responding police officers, who included PC Ward and PC Cook.

CCTV footage leaked to the media showed an altercation involving Amaaz and three police officers before his arrest. The three police officers sustained injuries that included a broken nose, concussion, and bruising and swelling. Mobile phone footage of the incident was shared on social media and showed a male police officer, identified as PC Zachary Marsden, kicking Amaaz in the face while he was on the floor. Prosecutors stated that Amaaz resisted efforts to remove him from the area and used a high level of violence. Footage shown to the jury captured the moment Amaaz was tasered.

Judge Neil Flewitt KC, who presided over the sentencing, told Amaaz he initiated the aggression and described both assaults as prolonged and unprovoked. Constable Ward gave a victim impact statement to the court, noting her promotion to sergeant since the incident. Ward stated that Amaaz knocked her to the ground with a single punch that had sufficient force to break her nose. "She and her colleague were totally blindsided by the attack," Ward said. She described Amaaz's actions as cowardly. Ward added that she weighed no more than eight stone and was 5ft 2in at the time of the incident. She also said she had given birth the previous year and was unable to enjoy her maternity leave due to the worry of returning to court.

PC Ellie Cook also provided a statement to the court, which Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC read aloud. Cook said Amaaz's punches had such power that she believed she was being attacked by three to four people. She noted she had recently begun a new role as a firearms officer at the airport, which she had undertaken as a step toward a close protection officer position in the Metropolitan Police. Cook stated she had to move from her home after the incident because she no longer felt safe. She was signed off work due to duty-related trauma and decided to discontinue her work as a firearms officer. Cook's aspiration of becoming a close protection officer is on hold. She experiences shooting pains in her jaw when yawning, along with frequent headaches and difficulty sleeping.