Firearms PC 'terrified' in airport attack, court told

A short-sighted police firearms officer told a court he was "terrified" when his glasses were knocked off during an alleged attack by two brothers at Manchester Airport.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, are alleged to have struck out after police responded to a reported assault at the Starbucks cafe in Terminal 2 arrivals on the evening of July 23 2004, when Amaaz is said to have headbutted a customer..

PC Zachary Marsden, 26, was one of three officers who approached Amaaz to arrest him shortly afterwards, in T2's car park paystation area, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Amaaz and Amaad, both of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny assaulting PC Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.

The prosecution alleged Amaaz resisted and his brother intervened as PCs Marsden, Ellie Cook and Lydia Ward were subjected to a "high level of violence".

Last year Amaaz was convicted by another jury of assaulting Marsden's two female colleagues and the Starbucks customer.

Ward sustained a broken nose as she was floored by a punch, while another blow knocked PC Cook over a baggage trolley.

Marsden told the court he was "calm" and "collected" as he entered the paystation area.

He said: "I had a task in hand and set out to locate this male. This was routine work for us. Nothing out of the ordinary."

The aim was to carry out a "two-point escort" where they would take control of the suspect's arms and walk him outside away from the public.

He did not identify himself at the payment machine as a police officer as he wanted a "tactical advantage" on approach with an "element of surprise", the court heard.

Amaaz "immediately tensed" and resisted his efforts, he said, but he believed the suspect recognised he was a uniformed police officer when he turned round and "looked me up and down".

Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC said: "Did this make any difference to his resistance?"

The Greater Manchester Police officer said: "No, he resisted more."

The prosecution alleged Amaad intervened and delivered multiple blows to the side of Marsden's head.

Marsden told the court: "They were the hardest I had ever been punched in my entire life."

His spectacles fell off and his radio earpiece was also knocked out.

Marsden added: "I cant see without them. I couldn't see what was going on apart from the fact that I'm being punched in the face."

Asked he how he felt officer replied: "Terrified. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop my colleagues coming to harm. I didn't know what was going to happen to me."

Marsden was concerned that his Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol would be snatched in the struggle and that was partly why he did not remove it from the holster strapped to his thigh.

He added: "I joined this job to protect lives, not to take it away. I will exhaust every option possible before going to a lethal weapon."

Instead Marsden fired his stun gun and fired a strike towards Amaad at short distance, he said.

He said it was not effective and was about to discharge a second strike before he was punched to his left temple with "great force" from behind by another male – alleged to be Amaaz.

More punches were landed from behind before he "felt an arm come round the right side of my body and then wrap around my throat before it started to choke me", he said.

Seconds later Cook fired her stun gun at Amaaz who dragged the officer to the floor with him, the court heard.

Marsden told the jury he had "no way to know" that Amaaz had been "Tasered" as he got to his feet.

Amaaz is said to have raised and moved his head on the floor and in response Marsden kicked him to the face and brought his foot down towards the top of his head in what appeared to be a stamping motion.

The Crown said those actions took place after the violence allegedly meted out by the defendants, and were therefore "logically entirely irrelevant" to the lawfulness of the brothers' conduct.

The trial continues.

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