Police Officer Hospitalized After Violent Assault at Manchester Airport, Court Hears

A police officer was left bloodied and terrified after being punched in the face during an attempted arrest at Manchester Airport, a court has heard.

Pc Lydia Ward, of Greater Manchester Police, suffered a broken nose after she was attacked at the Terminal 2 car park pay station on July 23 last year. The incident occurred after officers responded to reports that a man had headbutted a customer in the arrivals café.

According to testimony at Liverpool Crown Court, Pc Ward and her colleagues approached 20-year-old Mohammed Fahir Amaaz near a ticket machine. When officers attempted to arrest Amaaz, he began to resist, and his older brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened. The prosecution alleges that both brothers used a “high level of violence” against the officers.

Pc Ward described the scene as chaotic, saying, “Things escalated very quickly. Suddenly, everything went black.” She recounted being struck forcefully in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, disoriented and bleeding heavily.

Despite deploying incapacitant spray and a Taser, officers struggled to control the situation, while bystanders filmed the incident on their phones instead of helping. “I felt like everyone in that room was against us. I was absolutely terrified,” Pc Ward said in court.

Both Amaaz and Amaad, from Rochdale, deny all charges, which include causing actual bodily harm to two officers and assaulting a customer at the airport café. The trial continues.