Pc Lydia Ward, who was punched in the face during a brawl at Manchester Airport, branded her attacker “cowardly” as he was sentenced to prison. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, received a three-and-a-half-year jail term at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of assaulting Pc Ward, causing her actual bodily harm during an attack in July 2024 that went viral on social media.
Victim Impact Statement
In her victim impact statement, Pc Ward addressed Amaaz directly: “I want you to take a good look at me. Take away that I am a police officer. Look at me, standing here. What do you see? I’ll tell you what you see. You see a female. A female who is 5ft2 and at the time of the incident I weighed no more than eight stone.” She continued, “You are a male and you chose to attack me without a second thought. You chose to attack a female. You knocked me to the ground with one punch, with so much force you broke my nose. What you did was cowardly.”
Details of the Attack
The court heard that Pc Ward suffered a broken nose during the assault. Bodycam footage showed her bloodied and sobbing. Amaaz also knocked Pc Ward’s colleague, Pc Ellie Cook, to the ground with a series of elbows and punches. The officers had responded to reports that a male fitting Amaaz’s description had headbutted a Starbucks customer, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, minutes earlier on July 23, 2024. Prosecutors said Amaaz resisted their attempts to take him outside and used a “high level of violence.”
Amaaz's Lack of Remorse
Pc Ward expressed anger at Amaaz’s behavior after the incident: “What angers me is that afterwards, when only part of the footage was out in the public, you played the victim. You are not a victim. I am the one who was injured, not you. You had the whole world listening to you and you showed no remorse. Not one ounce. You allowed the public to feel sorry for you. You made out like we had done something wrong when all we were doing was our job.” She added, “The things that have been written about me on social media are disgusting. Do I deserve to be spoken about in that way? I was made to feel like an idiot. You could have stopped that by telling the truth. Instead, you continued with this narrative, even when the full footage was published.”
Additional Convictions
Amaaz was also found guilty of assaulting Pc Ellie Cook and an earlier assault on a member of the public at a nearby Starbucks café. He watched the proceedings via videolink from prison, where he has been on remand for the past 11 months.
Ongoing Investigations
In December 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that no police officer would face charges over the incident, which led to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) lifting the suspension of Pc Marsden from all duties. An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) remains ongoing into allegations that Pc Marsden and a second officer used excessive force. However, both Pc Ward and Pc Cook were only being treated as witnesses.
Impact on Pc Ward
Pc Ward said she has been left with a small scar on her nose which will “forever remind me of what you did.”
