Armed police could face sack over Manchester Airport attack

Telegraph

5 days ago

The armed officers at the centre of the Manchester Airport attack could still face the sack over the incident, The Telegraph can reveal.
Pc Zachary Marsden and Pc Ellie Cook are under investigation over the way they detained Mohammed Fahir Amaaz during his violent rampage in July last year.
On Wednesday, the 20-year-old student from Rochdale was convicted of punching their colleague Pc Lydia Ward in the face causing a broken nose and also of assaulting Pc Cook.
Amaaz was further convicted of headbutting Abdulkareem Hamzah Abbas Ismaeil, a passenger, during an altercation at the airport last July.
But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether he and his brother also assaulted Pc Marsden and both men will now face a retrial on that charge.
Despite the verdicts, however, Pc Marsden and Pc Cook are still facing possible gross misconduct charges over their use of force and could be sacked if found guilty.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which has been investigating the officers' actions over the past year, is expected to announce its decision following the conclusion of the retrial.
The incident occurred on July 23 last year, when the brothers from Rochdale went to the airport to collect their mother who was returning to the UK on an international flight.
Mr Ismaeil, a fellow passenger who had been on the same flight, reported being headbutted in the face by Amaaz during an altercation in a branch of Starbucks in Terminal 2.
When the three Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers approached Amaaz to arrest him in connection with the incident, he lashed out before his brother allegedly intervened.
Jurors heard how the brothers used a 'high level of violence' against the officers, with Amaaz throwing 10 punches – including one into the face of Pc Ward, which knocked her to the floor.
The moment her nose was broken during the assault was shown to the jury earlier in July, with Pc Ward seen bloodied and sobbing afterwards on bodycam footage.
During the attack, Pc Cook discharged her Taser, and mobile phone footage appeared to show Pc Marsden kicking and stamping on Amaaz during the arrest.
The Crown Prosecution Service examined the officers' actions and concluded they should face no further action, but because disciplinary offences are based on the civil test, they could still end up losing their livelihoods.
An IOPC spokesman said: 'Our independent investigation into the use of force by Greater Manchester Police officers on six people during a series of arrests at Manchester Airport on July 23 2024 is nearing completion.
'At the end of the investigation we are required to determine whether there is an indication that anyone serving with the police may have breached the standards of professional behaviour. This will take into account all of the evidence gathered during the investigation, not simply matters that were under criminal investigation.
'On concluding our investigation we will inform the officers, GMP and the people involved in the arrests of our initial determinations.'
No date for a retrial has yet been set, but Amaaz was remanded in custody by the judge Neil Flewitt KC.
Following the verdicts, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, was accused of ' siding with the attacker ' rather than 'standing up for brave officers who get injured in the line of duty'.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said that when the incident happened last year, Ms Cooper 'seemed more interested in criticising the police'.
Ms Cooper released a statement after the attack last year saying she had spoken to Greater Manchester Police and the Mayor of Greater Manchester about 'the urgent steps they are taking in response to the incident'.
However, on Wednesday night, Mr Philp said it was 'shameful' that Ms Cooper failed to 'mention any of the police officers who were attacked... even though it has been reported that she was aware they had been injured when she made it'.
'This is just another example of Labour's two-tier approach to law and order,' he added. 'Yvette Cooper has questions to answer.'
'Unprovoked assault'
Sir Stephen Watson, the Chief Constable of GMP, said attacks on his officers could never be justified.
He said: 'While disappointed that the prosecution case was not fully endorsed, I welcome the findings of the jury in respect of the convicted offender, whose appalling conduct has now been exposed to legitimate public scrutiny.
'I am grateful to the prosecution team, and to those investigating officers from GMP who have worked hard to assist the court in enabling justice to be done in respect of those counts where a verdict was reached.
'GMP is actively supportive of a retrial in respect of the two counts where a verdict was not achieved. We remain fully committed to providing the prosecution team with every assistance needed to reach an outcome on these matters.
'Our officers first approached the man now convicted in order to make an arrest following the unprovoked assault on an innocent man in the presence of his wife and children. They were responding quickly to precisely the sort of outrageous criminal behaviour that rightly offends the public.
'Whilst assaults on police officers are sadly not uncommon – 44 of my officers are assaulted every week across Greater Manchester – such attacks can never be justified. Our officers are decent people who routinely place themselves in harm's way to protect the public. They deserve our respect and support.
'Bloodied and bruised'
'I am particularly grateful to those many members of the public who have contacted the force in order to pass on their best wishes to the officers affected.'
Mike Peake, chairman of Greater Manchester Police Federation, also welcomed the verdicts.
He said: 'Police officers in Manchester work in a difficult, dangerous and dynamic world where there is no such thing as a routine incident. They deserve support in that work from the public and politicians.
'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with. Thirty-five officers are assaulted in Greater Manchester Police every week. We are bloodied and we are bruised.
'We have been supporting the officers concerned in the incident at Manchester Airport last summer since it occurred. And as a Federation we will continue to do so.'