Brothers charged in Manchester Airport incident will 'vigorously contest charges'

The two brothers charged with assaults on police officers after a disturbance at Manchester Airport say they “maintain their innocence and will vigorously contest the charges”.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, faces two offences of causing actual bodily harm, a charge of assaulting an emergency worker and a charge of common assault.

While Muhammed Amaad, 25, is charged with causing actual bodily harm.

In a statement from their family, issued through their solicitor, Aamer Anwar, they said they felt "betrayed" by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police watchdog the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).

They said: “There has been a great deal of public comment, political incitement around this case. Nothing further should be said to potentially prejudice legal proceedings.

“My clients maintain their innocence and will vigorously contest the allegations.

“They will not be making any further comment until these proceedings have concluded.”

Footage of a fracas was shared online in July and prompted protests after it appeared to show a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man as he lay on the floor.

The altercation, in the airport’s Terminal Two, allegedly happened after an earlier confrontation between passengers on a Qatar Airways flight which arrived at 7.20pm on 23 July.

Prosecutors said experts had concluded there was “no realistic prospect of conviction” of any police officers.

Brothers Amaaz and Amaad and their mother Shameem Akhtar, 56, alleged they were assaulted by police during the altercation, which took place near a car park pay point.

A female officer suffered a broken nose and two other police officers were taken to hospital following the incident, GMP said.

The family statement continued: “The family feel betrayed by both the IOPC and CPS, but neither organisation has a track record on delivering justice where allegations of police violence are involved.

“To be clear nobody should be above the law and the question asked at the very start was what possible justification can there be for the use of excessive, disproportionate and potentially lethal force against any civilian who is incapacitated by a Taser and poses no threat?

“At that point, it remains the case that a decision is still to be made whether officers from the GMP should face disciplinary proceedings, following a series of complaints raised by six members of the public, including our clients in relation to the incident.”

It added that the family were shocked by the news no officers will be charged and they will be requesting a victim’s right of review of the CPS decision.

He said: “Our legal team will review the CPS decision, but believe they have fundamentally failed in the two-stage test which prosecutors must apply when deciding whether a case should result in proceedings before a court or not.

“The first stage is the ‘evidential stage’ and the second stage is the ‘public interest stage’.”

Protests were held in Manchester city centre and outside Rochdale police station in the days following the footage appearing online.

Calls for calm were made by the family involved and public figures including Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.