PC Lydia Ward, a police officer assaulted at Manchester Airport, has described how the attacker 'looked directly into my eyes' seconds before launching a brutal attack that left her with a broken nose and concussion. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, from Rochdale, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison on Friday for the assault on two female police officers.
Attack at Terminal 2
PCs Lydia Ward and Ellie Cook were responding to reports of a headbutt in Terminal 2 on the evening of July 23, 2024, when they were attacked by Amaaz. He resisted arrest before swinging punches at the two women. PC Ward suffered a broken nose and concussion, while PC Cook, a firearms officer, sustained an injured jaw.
In a victim impact statement read in court, PC Ward said: 'We were totally blindsided, and I felt like it came from nowhere. I genuinely thought you would have agreed to come outside for a conversation about what you had done in Starbucks. There were no indications. I never in a million years thought you would have attacked me the way you did.'
Emotional Impact
PC Ward recounted: 'In the moments before you punched me, I remember you looked directly into my eyes. Could you see how scared I was? I was petrified. I just remember hitting the floor and thinking ‘this is it’. I felt instant pain and then I saw the blood.' She required an operation to fix her nose and now has a small scar, adding: 'Every time I look in the mirror, I am forever reminded of what you did to me. This will be a trigger for the rest of my life.'
PC Cook told how her 'vision went black' after being punched and knocked to the ground. She managed to deploy her taser after witnessing PC Ward being attacked. She asked Amaaz: 'What would you have done if I hadn’t? When would you have stopped? You wanted to take each of us out and I fear you would have gone to extreme lengths to do that.'
Career Consequences
PC Cook revealed she had stood down from firearms duties since the incident, telling Amaaz: 'You have ripped that from me. I hope you never forget, because I know I won’t.' Both officers have served with Greater Manchester Police for eight years. The incident sparked widespread debate on social media after footage was shared online.
