A female police officer who was punched in the face during a brawl at Manchester Airport looked her attacker in the eye and told him: “You used me as a punch bag, but I will get back up.”
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, was jailed for three and a half years at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of causing actual bodily harm to PC Lydia Ward and assaulting PC Ellie Cook during the incident on July 23, 2024.
“Mohammed Fahir Amaaz jailed for 3.5 years for breaking policewoman's nose at Manchester Airport.”
“You changed my face,” Sgt Ward – who has since been promoted – told the 21-year-old in a powerful victim impact statement. “You chose to attack a female. You knocked me to the ground with one punch, with so much force you broke my nose.”
The attack happened after Ward, then a constable, and two colleagues from Greater Manchester Police approached Amaaz at a ticket machine following a report that a man matching his description had headbutted a Kuwaiti holidaymaker in a café in Terminal Two.
Amaaz resisted arrest and, together with his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, launched a volley of punches at the officers, sending Ward sprawling to the ground and repeatedly hitting Cook, who later said the attack had left her “broken” and forced her to put her dreams of becoming a close protection officer on hold.
PC Ellie Cook fired her Taser at Amaaz, causing him to fall to the floor. Before the brothers were arrested, onlookers filmed a male officer kicking Amaaz in the head. That footage went viral, sparking accusations of racism and protests with Black Lives Matter placards – until CCTV footage showing the violence against the officers was leaked and changed the narrative.
CCTV showed Amaaz had thrown 10 punches, two elbow strikes and one kick. Jurors could not reach verdicts on whether either brother had assaulted PC Zachary Marsden, and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue a third trial.
In court, Amaaz insisted he was acting in self-defence and denied knowing the two officers he punched were female, saying he had “nothing but love and respect for women”.
Ward, 5ft 2in and 8st, addressed him directly: “How would you feel if a male did that to your mother? … What angers me is that afterwards, when only part of the footage was out in the public, you played the victim. You are not a victim. I am the one who was injured, not you.”
“Take a good look at me,” she added. “I want you to know I am not weak. 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.”