An armed police officer who kicked and stamped on a suspect at Manchester Airport was an “uncontrolled bully with a badge” who defied protocol and the law, a jury has been told. Defence barrister Chloe Gardner made the damning assessment of PC Zachary Marsden during closing speeches at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.
The four-week trial has heard how PC Marsden and colleagues PCs Ellie Cook and Lydia Ward became involved in a violent confrontation with brothers Mohammed Amaaz, 20, and Muhammed Amaad, 26, at Terminal Two’s pay station area on 23 July 2024. Mobile phone footage of the incident, which showed PC Marsden kicking Mr Amaaz in the head and stamping on him, went viral on social media.
Ms Gardner, representing Mr Amaad, told jurors that PC Marsden had “strode into the pay station” and grabbed Mr Amaaz without announcing he was a police officer. She argued this failure to identify himself was “crucial” to understanding how the situation escalated.
‘Red Mist’ Allegations
“Police Constable Marsden threw away the rule book long ago,” Ms Gardner stated in her closing speech. “His behaviour was aggressive and uncontrolled. He had no regard for procedure or doing things the right way. He acted how he wanted. His way was the only way.”
The defence barrister told the court that despite the brothers saying “easy, easy, easy, easy, easy, no, no, no” in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, “these words had zero effect on PC Marsden, who was covered in that red mist.”
Ms Gardner made serious allegations about the officer’s conduct, stating: “PC Marsden could have killed Mr Amaaz with the kick and he could have suffocated Mr Amaad.” She claimed the officer had smashed Mr Amaad’s face into the ground whilst restraining him and had placed his knee on his neck.
CCTV Evidence Questioned
The defence challenged the prosecution’s reliance on CCTV footage, with Ms Gardner comparing the assessment of silent footage to watching a television crime drama with the sound turned off. She told jurors: “I had Criminal Minds on the TV and I did not have much of a clue about what was going on because the sound was off. I could get the gist but not the full picture.”
She argued that the prosecution had given the jury “a jigsaw puzzle” and asked them to “guess the final picture,” emphasising that the CCTV evidence was incomplete without audio. The defence highlighted that the entire incident happened within seconds, fundamentally changing the lives of all involved.
Missing Witness
A key point in the defence case was the absence of Abdulkareem Ismaeil, the man allegedly assaulted by Mr Amaaz at a Starbucks café inside the terminal, which had prompted the police response. Ms Gardner noted that Mr Ismaeil had decided not to pursue the matter and had not given evidence at trial.
“The prosecution say ‘we have the CCTV and that is all the evidence we need’,” Ms Gardner stated. “You cannot assess the stature of Mr Ismaeil and whether he was getting wound up, hostile and intimidating. The prosecution have not brought Mr Ismaeil here to fill in the gaps by giving evidence.”
Officers’ Testimony
Earlier in the trial, PC Marsden testified that he had experienced “the hardest” blows of his life during the confrontation. He told prosecutor Paul Greaney KC that he felt punches “from all directions” and that his glasses were knocked off, leaving him unable to see clearly beyond arm’s length.
The officer claimed he feared for his firearm, stating: “If someone gained my firearm it would pose an immediate lethal threat to anyone in the vicinity. The risk of my firearm being taken from me did not stop until we gained control.”
PC Marsden also testified that no members of the public attempted to help during the incident, describing the crowd as “hostile” with people “watching and recording on phones.”
Injuries and Aftermath
PC Ellie Cook, who fired her Taser at Mr Amaaz during the incident, testified that she had “never felt a punch like it” when allegedly struck by the defendant. She told the court her vision went “quite blurry for about a second” and she later required hospital treatment for swelling to her head and jaw pain.
The trial heard that PC Ward was knocked to the floor by a single punch, whilst the brothers’ mother, Shameem Akhtar, sustained facial injuries during the confrontation. Defence counsel suggested PC Marsden had struck her in the face with his Taser during the struggle.
The Charges
Mohammed Amaaz faces multiple charges including assault by beating Mr Ismaeil at Starbucks, two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm to PCs Marsden and Ward, and assault by beating PC Cook as an emergency worker. His brother Muhammed Amaad is charged with assault causing actual bodily harm to PC Marsden.
Both brothers, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny all charges and claim they were acting in self-defence. The defence argues that PC Marsden’s aggressive approach without proper identification sparked the violent confrontation.
Prosecution Case
The Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against the brothers in December 2024 after reviewing extensive evidence including witness statements, video footage, and expert reports. However, the CPS concluded there was “no realistic prospect of conviction” for any Greater Manchester Police officers involved, despite two officers remaining under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC urged jurors not to be “distracted” by PC Marsden’s kick and stamp, arguing it was “simple logic and common sense” that what happened after the initial confrontation was “irrelevant as to why the defendants used the force they did.”
Trial judge Neil Flewitt KC told the jury they would begin deliberations on Monday after he sums up the evidence. The case continues.
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