The older of two brothers accused of assaulting police officers at Manchester Airport told a jury how he had decided “I am not dying today” after being targeted with a police Taser.
Muhammad Amaad, 26, and Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, are alleged to have used a “high level of violence” against PC Zachary Marsden, PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook after they tried to arrest the younger brother.
Mr Amaaz denies assaulting all three officers while his older sibling, Mr Amaad, denies one charge of assaulting PC Marsden causing actual bodily harm.
Liverpool Crown Court had heard the Greater Manchester Police officers entered the Terminal 2 car park pay station on 23 July 2024 intending to arrest Mr Amaaz.
The force suspected he had headbutted a member of the public inside a Starbucks cafe in the airport a few minutes earlier, the court has heard.
Mr Amaad, giving evidence on Monday, said: “They come in and grab Fahir straight away. They started pushing him forward into the ticket machine.
“I didn’t understand the need for the aggression.”
He told his barrister, Chloe Gardner, that nothing was said by any of the officers and that he tried to “de-escalate the situation” by saying “easy, easy … no, no, no”.
Ms Gardner asked: “Were you trying to be provocative or make things worse?”
Mr Amaad said: “No, I was trying to help, if anything.”
He said at the time he could see no reason for the officers to have grabbed his brother.
He said he then saw PC Marsden grab Mr Amaaz by the neck.
Mr Amaad said: “I didn’t know where his other hand was. I thought both his hands might be around his neck and he was choking him.
“So, I stepped around and I just placed my hand under the officer’s arm.”
He denied he pushed PC Marsden or tried to grab the officer’s throat.
‘I was stunned’
Mr Amaad said: “Next, all I can remember is I got a bang in the face. My eyes sort of shut and I put my hands up and thought ‘what was that?’
“Then I just remember ‘bang, bang, bang’. It caught me by surprise, I was stunned.
“We just sort of fell over on to a chair and I am feeling punches, holding and grabbing, and I had to defend myself during that time.”
PC Marsden went on to fire his Taser at Mr Amaad, the court heard, and he later sat down with his hands on his head after he saw the officer’s firearm.
Amaad told the court: “I just felt to myself ‘I’m not dying today’. I have been punched, I have been Tasered, I am not going to die today.”
Ms Gardner said: “Why did you strike PC Marsden at the seated area?”
Mr Amaad said: “Because it was at that point I was trying to make him stop and defend myself. I was put in a situation where I had to defend myself”.
Earlier, a total of 20 character references for Mr Amaaz were read out by his barrister, Imran Khan KC, including many citing his charity work in the Rochdale community.
One was from his eldest brother, 28-year-old Mohammed Abid, who is a serving GMP officer.
He said Mr Amaaz was “the baby of the family” who lived a “clean, honest lifestyle” and had never had any interactions with police before.
Mr Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Marsden and PC Ward, causing them actual bodily harm and the assault of PC Cook.
He also denies the earlier assault of a member of the public, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, at a Starbucks cafe in T2 arrivals.
