A man on trial over an alleged assault on an armed police officer at Manchester Airport has told jurors he feared for his life during the confrontation.
Muhammad Amaad, 26, said he thought “I don’t want to die today” after seeing what he believed was a gun during the incident at Terminal 2.
Amaad and his younger brother, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, both from Rochdale, deny assaulting armed officer PC Zachary Marsden during a confrontation at a car park pay station on July 23, 2024.
Giving evidence in his defence at Liverpool Crown Court, Amaad said he believed he and his brother were under attack.
He told jurors that when he saw the officer holding what he now knows was a Taser, he initially believed it was a firearm.
“I just thought ‘I don’t want to die today, I don’t want to get shot’,” he said.
Amaad said the situation escalated quickly after police approached his brother in the pay station area, claiming officers did not identify themselves and used force immediately.
He told the court he saw his brother being grabbed “aggressively” and believed he was being choked, prompting him to try to intervene.
Amaad said he repeatedly told officers to “easy” the situation, but claimed his words had no effect.
He described being struck multiple times, saying he was “dazed” and felt he was under attack, adding: “It was happening so quick, I didn’t really have time to think, I was just being hit.”
The defendant said he struck out only to defend himself, telling jurors: “I was defending myself at that point. I had been hit multiple times.”
He also said he feared for his family, telling the court he saw his brother fall to the ground after being Tasered and his mother bleeding nearby.
“I just wanted my mum away,” he said.
Amaad said he eventually complied with police, going to his knees with his hands on his head, but claimed he was then kicked and struck again.
He denied attempting to obstruct police or interfere with an arrest, maintaining his actions were defensive.
The court has previously heard that Mohammed Fahir Amaaz was convicted at an earlier trial of assaulting a man in a Starbucks at the airport, as well as two female officers, PC Ellie Cook and PC Lydia Ward.
In the current trial, both brothers deny a single charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against PC Marsden.
The incident followed an earlier confrontation in Starbucks involving a man the brothers say had racially abused their mother during a flight.