A police officer involved in a fracas at Manchester Airport was an “uncontrolled bully with a badge”, a jury has heard. PC Zachary Marsden and two female colleagues responded to a report that a member of the public had been headbutted at a Starbucks cafe in Terminal 2 arrivals just minutes earlier on the evening of July 23 last year.
It is alleged that Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, resisted as he was grabbed from behind at a car park ticket machine, and then his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, intervened as both inflicted a “high level of violence” on the officers. In her closing speech at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Chloe Gardner, defending Amaad, said: “We see PC Marsden stride up to his brother’s left side and grab first his arm and then his head and neck. Nothing is said by any of the officers. No announcement of any sort.
“No one says they are police officers. That’s crucial. Pc Marsden used unnecessary violence. His behaviour is indicative of how he behaves in general, certainly that day. Aggressive and uncontrolled.”
She said Amaad was heard to say “easy, easy, easy… no, no, no” in a bid to de-escalate the situation, but his words had “zero effect on PC Marsden” who was “pretty much covered in red mist”.
Ms Gardner went on: “We say that from the outset, Pc Marsden had no regard for procedure and acted how he wanted. His way was the only way.
“Mr Amaad told you his intention was solely to get Pc Marsden’s hands off his brother. Mr Amaad was clear that at no point did he try to grab Pc Marsden’s throat.”
She said Pc Marsden had told lies in various statements about his interactions with Amaad at the pay station area.
Ms Gardner said: “We say it is critical when you consider Pc Marsden’s credibility. He has come into this courtroom and he has lied to you.”
She said Amaad did “no more than was necessary” to defend his brother and then himself as he believed he was “under attack”.
Taser strikes were later fired at both brothers, the court has heard, and their mother, Shameem Akhtar, was injured in the melee.
The defendants say Pc Marsden struck her in the face with his Taser, while the officer said he believed Amaad accidentally elbowed her.
Mobile phone footage of the officer kicking the head of Amaaz and in a stamping motion was shared on social media and went viral last year.
Ms Gardner said Pc Marsden went on to kick Amaad in the stomach and to the groin and “smack him in the head” with his Taser.
She said: “Even when he has both brothers immobile and the mother has been hit in the face and is bleeding, he continues to assault Mr Amaad.
“He is an uncontrolled bully with a badge.
“He defied protocol, ethics, procedure and law.”
Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden and Pc Lydia Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of the assault of emergency worker Pc Ellie Cook, and the earlier assault by beating of a member of the public, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, at a Starbucks cafe in T2 arrivals.
Amaad is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
Both defendants, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny the allegations and say they were lawfully acting in self-defence or in defence of each other.
The trial continues on Monday, when the jury is expected to be sent out to begin its deliberations.