Female police officer punched in Manchester airport assault urges attacker to ‘show remorse’
A police officer who was punched in the face and had his nose broken during the attack at Manchester Airport asked the attacker to express remorse.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of assaulting PC Lydia Ward and causing her actual bodily harm last year.
The court heard how PC Ward’s nose was broken during the attack in July 2024, when Amaaz knocked colleague PC Ellie Cook to the ground with a series of elbows and punches, with police body camera footage showing her covered in blood and sobbing.
Recalling the incident, 29-year-old Ms Ward said: Times: “I remember getting up [after being punched]. I was in a panic. I was in so much pain. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, there are people everywhere,'” he said.
“There were two guys yelling and being aggressive. People were filming us. They were laughing at us. It was such a hostile environment.”
“There was a lot of noise. One of the men said something, laughing and swearing. At the time I thought they were all one group, but apparently not. It felt like we were ambushed.”
“I don’t expect the public to get involved. [in such an altercation] because it’s scary and people want to do their job and don’t want to get involved in situations, but most of the time people help. “It looked like an ambush and it was anti-police, very anti-us.”
Widely shared mobile phone footage of the incident sparked protests as it showed a young Asian man being kicked in the face by a male police officer, who then slammed his head on the ground.
Days later, a CCTV clip was leaked online. Manchester Evening News It was revealed that the male firearms officer and his two female colleagues had been punched numerous times beforehand.
Ms Ward was taken to hospital following the incident and was told she would need surgery to realign her nose.
He said he felt “voiceless” while recovering from his injury due to comments on social media.
“People are making videos expressing their views on this issue, people are commenting and calling it racist and police brutality.
“I thought, ‘That’s not the whole story. I’m the one lying on my back in bed, with a broken nose, barely breathing, watching all these things that make us the bad guys.'”
Comments online called into question Ms Ward’s ability to do her job because of her gender. “People were saying, ‘He’s useless,'” he added.
PC Ward has since been promoted to sergeant and is known to have been working on an investigative role in Bolton.
He said Amaaz showed no remorse for attacking him.
“I didn’t see any of it,” he said. “If you do something wrong, there should be an element of apology and some remorse.
“Even if you think you’re not partially to blame in all of this, you need to take responsibility for some of your actions. That’s how I feel about this situation.”
Amaaz was also found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of assaulting PC Ward’s Greater Manchester Police (GMP) colleague, Pc Cook, and of previously assaulting a member of the public at a nearby Starbucks cafe.
Officers had responded to reports that a male matching Amaaz’s description had headbutted Starbucks customer Abdulkareem Ismaeil minutes earlier on July 23, 2024.
Prosecutors said Amaaz resisted attempts to take him out and he continued to engage in “high levels of violence.”
Two juries were unable to reach a verdict due to a separate allegation that Amaaz also caused actual bodily harm to firearms officer PC Zachary Marsden.
Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would not pursue a third case against Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, who faced a single charge of assault on PC Marsden, and were formally acquitted by the judge.
The defendants, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, claimed they acted in lawful self-defence or defense of another during the brawl.
In December 2024, the CPS announced that no police officers would face charges over the incident.
The court heard that the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation into allegations that Pc Marsden and the second officer used excessive force is continuing.
However, both PC Ward and PC Cook appeared only as witnesses.
