Manchester Airport Man Who Attacked Two Police Officers Faces Fresh Setback After Asking Court to Reduce His Jail Sentence

A man who attacked two police officers and a member of the public at Manchester Airport has failed in his attempt to challenge his prison sentence after the Court of Appeal rejected his application.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, from Rochdale, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison in June after being found guilty of carrying out violent attacks at the airport. He was 21 years old when he was sentenced.

The incident happened on July 23, 2024, when Amaaz and his older brother, Muhammad Amaad, who was 26 at the time, went to Manchester Airport to collect their mother, who had just arrived on a flight.

What should have been a normal family visit to the airport turned into a serious confrontation involving police officers and another man.

According to evidence presented in court, the trouble began when Amaaz confronted a man named Abdulkareem Ismaeil at a Starbucks inside the airport terminal. During the confrontation, Amaaz headbutted Mr Ismaeil.

Police officers were called after receiving reports of the attack. Two officers, PC Ellie Cook, who was armed, and PC Lydia Ward, who was unarmed, responded to the situation.

However, when the officers approached Amaaz and attempted to take him outside, the situation quickly became violent.

Prosecutors told the court that Amaaz resisted the officers and used a high level of violence against them.

During the attack, PC Ward suffered a broken nose. Police body camera footage shown during the trial captured the officer bleeding and crying after the incident.

PC Cook was also attacked. The court heard that Amaaz repeatedly struck her with his elbows and fists, causing her to fall to the ground.

The violent confrontation attracted widespread attention, particularly after footage of the incident at Manchester Airport circulated.

Following the investigation, Amaaz was charged and later found guilty of assaulting the two officers and attacking Mr Ismaeil.

He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to three and a half years in prison.

However, Amaaz was unhappy with the sentence and decided to challenge it through the Court of Appeal.

His application was considered on Friday during a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The hearing lasted approximately one hour and was conducted before three judges: Lord Justice Jeremy Baker, Mr Justice Bryan and Mr Justice Dexter Dias.

Amaaz’s legal representatives presented arguments explaining why they believed there were grounds for an appeal.

One of the arguments raised concerned what his lawyers described as an error in an instruction given to the jury by the judge who handled the original trial.

The Court of Appeal was also informed that no appeal against the conviction had been brought.

After listening to the legal arguments and reviewing the circumstances surrounding the case, the three judges decided not to allow the application to proceed.

Their decision means Amaaz has been unsuccessful in his attempt to challenge the three-and-a-half-year prison sentence through this application.

The case also involved a separate allegation concerning another police officer, PC Zachary Marsden, who was working as a firearms officer during the airport incident.

Amaaz had been accused of causing actual bodily harm to PC Marsden. However, two separate juries were unable to reach a verdict on that allegation.

His older brother, Muhammad Amaad, also faced a charge of assaulting PC Marsden.

Both brothers denied the allegations against them.

After two trials failed to produce a verdict on the outstanding charges, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would not seek a third trial.

As a result, the judge formally acquitted both brothers of those charges.

Despite that outcome, Amaaz’s convictions for attacking PC Cook, PC Ward and Mr Ismaeil remained in place.

The latest decision by the Court of Appeal represents another legal setback for Amaaz, as his attempt to obtain permission to appeal his prison sentence has now been refused.

The case has continued to attract attention because of the violence that took place inside one of Britain’s busiest airports, the injuries suffered by the officers and the legal proceedings that followed.