Manchester Airport Attacker’s Bid to Reduce Sentence Rejected by Court

A Manchester Airport attacker convicted of assaulting two female police officers has failed in his attempt to have his prison sentence reduced.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2025 after being convicted of common assault and two counts of actual bodily harm involving Sgt Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook.

The Court of Appeal rejected his challenge on Friday, ruling against his argument that the sentence was “wrong in principle” and “manifestly excessive”.

The case has fuelled allegations of two-tier justice and police racism. Amaaz and his brother, Muhammed Amaad, 26, confronted officers near a car park payment machine at Terminal Two of Manchester Airport on July 23, 2024.

The confrontation followed Amaaz’s alleged assault of Kuwaiti holidaymaker Abdulkareem Ismaeil. Amaaz accused Ismaeil of racially abusing his mother, Shameem Akhtar, after they met on a flight arriving from Pakistan via Qatar.

Sgt Ward, who was then a constable, and two armed colleagues caught up with Amaaz as the group paid for parking. The officers attempted to restrain him and make an arrest.

Amaaz resisted, and both brothers, who are from Rochdale, began throwing punches at the officers.

Amaaz struck Sgt Ward in the face, breaking her nose and sending her to the ground. Bodycam footage later showed her covered in blood and crying in the aftermath.

He then brought PC Cook to the ground with repeated punches and elbows.

At the same time, Amaad overpowered PC Zachary Marsden and repeatedly punched him before Amaaz joined the assault.

Both brothers were arrested after PC Cook fired her 50,000-volt Taser at Amaaz, causing him to fall. During the ensuing confusion, PC Marsden kicked Amaaz in the face and aimed another stamp close to him.

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Following a four-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Amaaz was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm against Sgt Ward and assaulting the unarmed PC Cook.

After deliberating for 10 hours, the jury could not reach verdicts on allegations that the brothers had assaulted PC Marsden and caused him actual bodily harm.

Imran Khan KC, representing Amaaz, told the Court of Appeal that the offences involving PC Ward and PC Cook had taken place during what he described as “unlawful detention by police officers”. He argued that Amaaz should therefore have been sentenced on the basis of “excessive self-defence”.

Mr Khan also argued that Judge Neil Flewitt KC had wrongly drawn “a specific adverse inference” from two hung juries and a subsequent acquittal on an actual bodily harm charge involving a third officer. The appeal judges rejected that argument.

Mr Justice Bryan, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Dexter Dias, said video footage clearly showed Amaaz “inflicting unprovoked violence against PC Ward and PC Cook”.

In a statement given at Liverpool Crown Court in June, Sgt Ward told Amaaz he ‘changed’ her face.

She criticised him for playing ‘the victim’ when misleading footage of the aftermath of the attack, filmed by onlookers, went viral and having allowed the ‘public to feel sorry for you’.

Sgt Ward also challenged her attacker to ‘take a good look at me’ and recognise the 5ft 2in, 8st woman behind the police uniform, she bravely spelt out the lasting physical and mental trauma caused by his shocking and unprovoked attack.

‘I want you to know I am not weak,’ she told Amaaz.’No matter how this has affected me or impacted on my life I will not allow you to see me as weak.

‘You used me as a punch bag, but I will get back up and I will show you how strong I am.’

PC Cook, meanwhile, told of how she has been left ‘broken’ and her dreams of one day becoming a close protection officer are on hold because of the assault.