logo
Jury sworn in to hear airport police assault case

Jury sworn in to hear airport police assault case

Independent14 hours ago
A jury has been sworn in to hear the trial of two brothers accused of assaulting police officers at Manchester Airport.
Footage of the disturbance at the Terminal 2 building on July 23 last year was widely shared online at the time.
On Wednesday, jurors were selected at Liverpool Crown Court and then sent home until Thursday afternoon when it is hoped the prosecution will outline its case.
Judge Neil Flewitt KC told jurors: 'I told you on Monday that yesterday I would be dealing with some legal issues that have to be resolved before this trial may start.
'Unfortunately we were unable to deal with all those issues yesterday and will deal with them this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
'When you return tomorrow afternoon, the leading counsel for the prosecution will open the case and tell you what it's all about.'
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, is alleged to have assaulted Pc Zachary Marsden and Pc Lydia Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of the assault of emergency worker Pc Ellie Cook in the same incident at the terminal's car park pay station, and the earlier assault of Abdulkareem Ismaeil, a member of the public, at a nearby Starbucks cafe.
Muhammad Amaad, 26, also from Rochdale, is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
Both deny the allegations.
Judge Flewitt reminded the jury not to look on the internet for information about the case or to carry out their own research.
He repeated that it was of 'the utmost importance' that they do not allow themselves to be influenced by news reports of the case or any comments made on social media.
The judge said: 'Your task will be to assess the evidence that is presented to you over the next few days and weeks, and then applying the law to reach verdicts based on that evidence. '
The trial is scheduled to last up to four weeks.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Children accessing 'vile porn' on social media, warns safeguarding chief
Children accessing 'vile porn' on social media, warns safeguarding chief

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

Children accessing 'vile porn' on social media, warns safeguarding chief

Children are gaining access to "vile" pornography through social media platforms, the head of Northern Ireland's child safeguarding organisation has told McNally said the problem was "just beyond belief" and called for greater intervention in schools and local chair of the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland was speaking at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee as MPs held an evidence session on tackling violence against women and said their research suggested "kids as young as nine" were accessing pornography, and its availability had been "normalised" by some social media platforms. The committee was also told that many women surveyed in Northern Ireland have withdrawn from public participation in online spaces as a result of "online violence".Olga Jurasz, a professor of law at the Open University and director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online, told MPs that those silencing effects are particularly deeply felt for women in Northern said the issue of violence against women and girls has been "amplified through technology"."Misogyny in particular has been popularised - we witness it every day - and it has also been monetised. Quite simply, it is for profit," she added. 'Some is down to influencers' BBC News NI has contacted X, Snapchat, TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, for comment on Bernie McNally's remarks. Snapchat guidelines prohibit users from sharing, promoting or distributing sexually explicit content, including Ms McNally told the committee that "some kids in school are asking their teacher how do you choke a woman".She said that girls between the ages of 16 and 18 who are sexually active were "all reporting being choked during sex"."So something has changed to normalise this and for young people, and some of it can be down to influencers," she added. Alliance Party MP Sorcha Eastwood raised the case of Alexander McCartney, a man from Northern Ireland who was jailed for extreme online sexual abuse of children and the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl. She told the committee that during a meeting with representatives of social media companies before Christmas, "not a single one" had heard of the McCartney case."And we are expected to believe that these platforms can keep our children safe online," she Smith, from the broadcast and internet regulator Ofcom, responded: "Well, that's absolutely shocking that they hadn't heard of the case. I'm astounded by that."

WA police who shot dead Aboriginal woman did not make meaningful attempts to de-escalate, coroner finds
WA police who shot dead Aboriginal woman did not make meaningful attempts to de-escalate, coroner finds

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

WA police who shot dead Aboriginal woman did not make meaningful attempts to de-escalate, coroner finds

Police were not sufficiently trained and did not make meaningful attempts to de-escalate the situation before fatally shooting an Aboriginal woman in a Geraldton street in 2019, a Western Australian coroner has found. The death of the 29-year-old Ngarlawangga Yamatji Martu woman, known as JC for cultural reasons, was preventable, and more needed to be done 'to bring about actual change and improve relations as between the WA Police and Aboriginal communities', the coroner, Ros Fogliani, said in her determination, which was released on Thursday. Her nine recommendations included that police, in consultation with Aboriginal people, establish a section or branch 'dedicated to improving the relationship between WA Police and Aboriginal persons' and regular, face-to-face, co-designed Aboriginal cultural awareness training, tailored by region. JC was shot dead by Brent Wyndham on a residential street in Geraldton, about 400km north of Perth, on 17 September 2019. Her death prompted a snap protest in Geraldton and calls for greater oversight of police shootings and deaths in custody. Wyndham was acquitted of JC's murder and of manslaughter in October 2021, telling the WA supreme court he had acted in self-defence as JC was carrying a knife and a pair of scissors. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email After JC had left their house, her family called police for assistance out of concern for her state of mind, believing her to be volatile and armed with a knife. She had been released from prison weeks earlier, and had spent most of those weeks as an involuntary mental health patient. Less than a minute elapsed between the first police vehicle arriving at the scene and JC being shot, the coroner said, which 'begs the question of what thought, if any, was given to de-escalating the situation before the shot was fired'. Wyndham had made a 'split-second decision' to get out of a police car and move towards JC, the coroner said, shooting her within 17 seconds of leaving the vehicle. Fogliani rejected Wyndham's claim that he had no other options but to fire on JC, finding that he had 'put himself in the situation where he perceived he needed to fire', that JC was not an active armed offender and that she had not lunged at Wyndham or stepped towards him, though he may have honestly believed that she did. 'The tenor of the evidence of the attending police officers, and of the submissions of WA Police, is that the incident ended so quickly that there was no time for police to communicate with each other,' the coroner said. 'For the same reason, there were no reflections offered by them on how things could have been done differently. 'This reasoning is circular. The incident ended quickly because First Class Constable Wyndham shot JC. The question to explore is whether better coordination and communication could have avoided the incident ending quickly, in this tragic manner.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The officers involved did not sufficiently recognise or consider JC's mental distress or the contributing cultural and historical context that attended it, she said. JC's 'premature death, in violent circumstances' not only deprived her son of his mother and caused her family profound grief, it also 'sadly reactivated and magnified the historical mistrust and antipathy that many Aboriginal persons feel towards police officers, for reasons that are well known and deeply embedded in the unfortunate and brutal consequences of colonisation', Fogliani said. 'By the time of the inquest, feelings of angst and anger were reverberating through the Aboriginal communities. This shocking incident risked undoing the very many years of concerted efforts on the part of the Western Australia Police Force (WA Police) to work with Aboriginal communities to foster mutual trust and respect.' Fogliani also recommended that WA police review the use-of-force training given to police officers and its audit processes, and explore ways to allow mental health practitioners to give advice to police attending calls involving people experiencing a mental health crisis. 'JC fell through the cracks in the system,' Fogliani concluded. 'It is my hope that the recommendations I have made will assist in providing some continuity of care and follow up when Aboriginal persons are removed from Country, for treatment.' Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Staffordshire Police patrol M6 to stop summer crash spike
Staffordshire Police patrol M6 to stop summer crash spike

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

Staffordshire Police patrol M6 to stop summer crash spike

Motorway patrols have taken place along the M6 to try to tackle a summer spike in operation near junction 13 in Staffordshire on Wednesday saw five police forces involved and targeted drivers carrying abnormal loads or at risk of causing Chris Moss, from Staffordshire Police, said the roads were particularly busy in the summer months with an increase in both haulage and holidaymakers."The days are brighter, they're longer so you've got more opportunity for people to get out on the roads and for hauliers to be moving heavy loads as well," he said. Officers from the Midlands and the north-west teamed up for Operation Spotlight, working with officers from other highways suspected of breaking the law were pulled over to be questioned and their vehicles examined. James Scorgie's lorry was pulled over but, after checks, both vehicle and its 40-tonne load were found to be fully compliant and the driver said he welcomed the action. "If this machine fell off and landed on a car, people aren't going home at the end of the day. This way it just means that we all run safely," he said. The action was part of a national police campaign to tackle the so-called fatal four causes of road crashes: Speeding, driving under the influence of drink and drugs, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on Facebook, X and Instagram.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store