Brothers accused of assaulting police officer at Manchester Airport will not face third trial

Two brothers accused of assaulting a police officer at Manchester Airport will not face a third trial.

Prosecutors claimed Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, attacked Zachary Marsden on 23 July 2024.

Footage of the incident went viral on social media.

Both denied causing actual bodily harm to officer PC Marsden, 26, telling Liverpool Crown Court that they acted in self-defence, or in defence of each other.

After two separate juries failed to reach verdicts, prosecutors said they would not pursue a third trial because of a "presumption" they are only held in "exceptional circumstances".

"The Crown's assessment is that while the count on the indictment is serious and the case has attracted significant public interest, it cannot be properly described as one of extreme gravity," said prosecutor Paul Greaney KC.

He said the decision had been deliberated at the "highest level" of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Last week, the second jury was discharged after it deliberated for nearly 20 hours following a five-week trial, and on Friday the judge ordered not-guilty verdicts be recorded.

Amaaz has been in custody since he was convicted at last year's first trial of assaulting PCs Lydia Ward and Ellie Cook during the same incident, as well as attacking a member of the public.

He will be sentenced on 26 June, but his brother, who faced the single allegation, walked free from court.

The first trial heard that police were called after Amaaz headbutted a man in Starbucks.

He claimed the man had racially abused his mother - who they were at the airport to collect - on an aircraft.

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The Crown said Amaaz resisted their attempts to take him outside, and Amaad then intervened.

A police watchdog probe into the actions of PC Marsden and other Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers remains ongoing.

The court previously heard that the defendants, from Rochdale, had an elder brother who served with GMP, as well as five cousins.

(c) Sky News 2026: Brothers accused of assaulting police officer at Manchester Airport will not face third tria