Mohammed Fahir Amaaz jailed for three and a half years for assaulting two police officers and a member of public at Manchester Airport

Unbiased summary

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, from Rochdale, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of common assault and two counts of actual bodily harm. The offences occurred at a Starbucks in Manchester Airport on 23 July 2024. Amaaz head-butted a member of the public and struck two female police officers, PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook, causing Ward a broken nose and Cook to be knocked to the ground. The incident became widely publicised after mobile phone footage circulated on social media. Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad had claimed self-defence against a male officer, PC Zachary Marsden; two juries failed to reach verdicts on those charges and the CPS declined to pursue a third trial. PC Ward, now a sergeant, delivered a victim impact statement at sentencing.

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Coverage by outlet

The Guardian left

Angle Presents the case within the broader context of the viral social media controversy and the unresolved allegations against the male police officer, implying the story is more complex than a straightforward assault conviction.

Bias The Guardian gives notable early prominence to the viral mobile phone footage showing a male officer kicking and appearing to stamp at a young Asian man, framing the public controversy as a significant part of the story. It mentions the self-defence claims and the failed prosecutions of PC Marsden more prominently than other outlets, lending weight to the brothers' narrative. While factually accurate, this framing subtly contextualises the conviction within a police misconduct angle that the other outlets largely downplay or omit.

Man jailed for assault on police officers and customer at Manchester airport

The Independent centre-left

Angle Centres the story on the human impact on the victim police officer and the emotional power of her statement, while briefly acknowledging the wider controversy.

Bias The Independent leads with PC Ward's powerful victim statement and her physical description of herself as a small female, emphasising the emotional and gendered dimension of the assault. It mentions the viral footage and the unresolved charges against PC Marsden but does not dwell on them, striking a broadly balanced tone. The coverage is largely consistent with the objective facts, with only a mild editorial lean toward humanising the officer-victim rather than contextualising the broader legal and social controversy.

Man, 21, who assaulted two female police officers at Manchester Airport jailed

GB News right

Angle Frames the story straightforwardly as a violent criminal attack on police officers, with no reference to the wider controversy, the male officer's conduct, or the failed prosecutions.

Bias GB News omits entirely the viral social media footage of PC Marsden, the self-defence claims, the two hung juries, and the CPS decision not to pursue a third trial — all materially relevant facts. By excluding this context, the coverage presents a one-dimensional account of criminal violence against police with no acknowledgement of the contested circumstances that made the case nationally significant. This selective omission steers readers away from any complexity in the story.

Manchester Airport attacker jailed after assaulting two police officers and member of public

Daily Mail right

Angle Uses emotionally charged, victim-centred framing to portray the assault as unprovoked and cowardly, while briefly referencing accusations of 'two-tier justice' and 'police racism' as a controversy Amaaz exploited.

Bias The Daily Mail employs the most emotionally loaded language of all outlets, describing the attack as 'shocking and unprovoked' and detailing personal details such as Amaaz being a 'university dropout' and Ward bringing her newborn to court — details absent from other outlets that serve to heighten sympathy and moral judgement. It references 'accusations of police racism and claims of two-tier justice' but frames these as a narrative weaponised against the officers rather than as a legitimate legal controversy with unresolved outcomes. The failed prosecutions of PC Marsden and the hung juries are mentioned only in passing, significantly downplaying their relevance.

'You used me as a punch bag...then played the victim': Manchester Airport attacker is jailed for three years as policewoman punched to the face brands him a 'coward'