A police officer has told a jury that she was left “absolutely terrified” after she was punched during a brawl with two men at the Manchester Airport last year. PC Lydia Ward from Greater Manchester was left with a broken nose in the incident that took place on July 23 at the Terminal 2 car park pay station, as reported by the BBC. She was allegedly attacked by Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26. Both men are from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and have denied the allegations.
The jury heard that Amaaz was approached at a ticket machine by the female cop and two of her colleagues after they received a complaint that a man who fit his description had head-butted a customer at a Starbucks in the airport.Amaaz apparently resisted, and his brother then intervened. “I was trying to keep hold of Mr Amaaz’s arm and get it behind his back so I could get some cuffs on him,” said Ward. One of her colleagues was then pushed, and Amaaz started to kick him, said Ward. “I tried to grab him off so he could stop kicking PC Marsden. All I remember then is that he turned and he punched me straight in the face,” she said as reported by the BBC. “I can’t really remember where it landed but I know where my injuries were. I remember falling on the floor and everything went black.”“I was terrified to be honest. I was absolutely terrified. I had never experienced that level of violence towards me in my life,” she added. “I didn’t know who was going to come up at me next. I was scared of going after this male again and being punched in the face again.”Ward said people around them did not come up to help, and were “filming on their mobile phones”, “Nobody came to assist. I felt everyone in that room was against us. To be honest, I was terrified,” she said. Footage from the bodycam that was presented in the court showed Ward was being comforted by one of her colleagues. Rosemary Fernandes, the lawyer representing Amaaz, suggested that her client was “taken by surprise” and was “shocked”. She also stressed that Amaaz had acted out in “lawful self-defence.” “It is important you identify yourselves as police officers, isn’t it?” she asked. Ward said that they did not have the time for any “rational discussion” as the situation turned “violent quickly”. “He could see I was a police officer and he could see I was a female as well,” she added.Amaaz was accused of assaulting PC Marsden and PC Ward, resulting in actual bodily harm, and also accused of assaulting PC Cook and Abdulkareem Ismaeil from Starbucks. His brother was accused of having assaulted PC Marsden, resulting in actual bodily harm. Both men have denied these allegations while the trial is going on.
