Manchester Airport Fight: Two Men Charged Over Altercation with Police
Two men have been charged over a fight with police at Manchester Airport which happened before an officer was filmed stamping on a suspect’s head.
Brothers Mohammed Amaaz, 20, and Muhammed Amaad, 25, have been charged with assaulting police officers, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
No charges are being brought against any police officers involved in the incident in July, it added.
Mr Amaaz and Mr Amaad, of Rochdale, will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on 16 January.
Social media footage emerged on 23 July, which showed a police officer kicking a man in the head as he lay on the ground.
CCTV footage, later obtained by the Manchester Evening News, showed the lead-up to the incident.
Three Greater Manchester Police officers are shown restraining a man at a car park ticketing machine before a fight ensues.
The footage shows punches being thrown and a police officer tasering a man and another officer stamping on the man’s head.
BBC Verify’s analysis of five social media videos of the fight, included one video, which appeared to show the officer who stamped on the man’s head then approaching another man, stamping on his thigh and hitting him on the back of the head with a Taser.
Another officer appears to pepper-spray bystanders who are filming the incident.
The CPS said it had “concluded no charges should be brought against any officers” after examining evidence, reviewing “expert opinion” and taking into account police training.
Two police officers are still under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog after GMP conducted its own inquiry.
One officer had been suspended but GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson said he was now lifting that suspension.
He said he “welcomed” the CPS’s decision “to take no further criminal action against serving officers”.
‘Significant public interest’
Mr Watson added: “The IOPC’s misconduct investigation continues and we will continue to cooperate fully in this regard.”
“I know that these matters have understandably generated a great deal of debate, scrutiny and speculation.”
Frank Ferguson from the CPS said it was a “high-profile incident that attracted significant public interest”.
After “careful consideration” of evidence, including witness statements and video footage it had “concluded that two men should be charged with offences including assaults on police officers”.
Mr Amaaz has been charged with two offences of causing actual bodily harm, one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and one charge of common assault.
Mr Amaad has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker causing actual bodily harm.