‘I COULD HAVE SHOT HIM’: Armed Cop Who Kicked Suspect in the Head at Manchester Airport Tells Jury He Used ‘Lenient’ Force to Avoid Multi-Fatal Shooting

• PC Zachary Marsden tells Liverpool Crown Court he had ‘no other option’ but to kick Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, in the face

• The firearms officer claims his only alternative was to use his Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol, which could have resulted in ‘fatal injuries’

• Shocking CCTV captured the moment the officer kicked the prone suspect before delivering a stamp during a chaotic brawl at Terminal 2

• Officer denies claims of ‘retribution’ or ‘revenge’ after being punched repeatedly by the suspect’s older brother

Firearms officer Zachary Marsden had no choice but to kick Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, in the face during the fracas at Manchester Airport in July 2024, he told a jury (pictured on footage from a colleague’s body-worn camera)

PC Marsden said that when he stamped his boot towards Amaaz’s head he was trying to ‘pin’ the dangling wire of his police issue radio to the floor so he could use it to call for back-up

An armed police officer caught on camera delivering a sickening kick to the head of a prone man at Manchester Airport has made a chilling admission to a jury: he believes his actions were “lenient” compared to the alternative of opening fire with his service weapon.

PC Zachary Marsden, a firearms officer who found himself at the center of a national firestorm after footage of the July 2024 incident went viral, told Liverpool Crown Court that he was forced into a split-second life-or-death decision. Under grueling cross-examination, the officer insisted that kicking 21-year-old Mohammed Fahir Amaaz in the face was a necessary “distraction technique” to prevent a far more “barbaric” outcome.

“I had to bring him under control,” PC Marsden told a hushed courtroom. “My only other option was to use my firearm. If I had used my Glock 17, he could have ended up being killed. In that context, the strike was the lesser of two evils.”

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21 (left), and 26-year-old Muhammad Amaad pictured last year

PCs Ellie Cook (top) and Lydia Ward (centre) had been trying to help armed colleague PC Zachary Marsden (in glasses) arrest Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (right) when his brother Muhammad Amaad (left) approached from behind

As PC Marsden attempted to gain control of Amaaz in order to arrest him, he said he felt an ‘immense pressure’ from behind – coming from his brother Amaad (pictured right grappling with the armed officer in CCTV footage)

A Terminal Under Siege

The violence erupted in a car park pay station area at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2. The court heard that officers had been deployed to intercept Amaaz after he allegedly headbutted a passenger at a Starbucks in the arrivals hall.

However, the routine arrest quickly spiraled into what was described as a “scene of utter chaos.” The jury heard how Amaaz’s older brother, 26-year-old Muhammad Amaad, launched a “ferocious” attack on PC Marsden, punching him repeatedly about the head. Amidst the melee, PC Marsden’s glasses were knocked off, leaving the short-sighted officer struggling to see as he was swarmed.

In the ensuing struggle, two female officers—PC Ellie Cook and PC Lydia Ward—were also assaulted. PC Ward suffered a broken nose, while PC Cook was forced to deploy her 50,000-volt Taser to bring Amaaz to the ground.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz denies assault causing actual bodily harm

‘The Most Lenient Option’

It was in the seconds after Amaaz fell to the floor—disabled by the Taser—that the most controversial moment occurred. CCTV footage, played repeatedly for the jury, shows PC Marsden approaching the prone 21-year-old and delivering a heavy kick directly to his “facial region,” followed by a stamp.

When Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC asked the officer directly, “In other words, you kicked him in the face?”, PC Marsden replied firmly: “Yes.”

He explained to the jury that his irritant spray would have been too slow to act and his extendable baton was ineffective at such close range. Furthermore, his own Taser was already “tangled” with the older brother, Amaad. This, he claimed, left him with the chilling choice between his heavy boots or his semi-automatic pistol.

“It wasn’t retribution,” the officer insisted, denying he was fueled by “anger or revenge” for the punches he had just sustained. “It was about buying precious time. I needed to stun him so I could move in and take control before he could get back up and attack me again.”

The ‘Radio Wire’ Defense

The officer also addressed the moment he appeared to stamp on the suspect’s head. In a testimony that drew skeptism from the defense, PC Marsden claimed he wasn’t trying to crush the suspect’s skull, but was instead trying to “pin” a dangling radio wire to the floor.

“My radio wire had come loose during the fight,” he explained. “I was trying to trap it so I could find the button and call for urgent back-up. I was screaming into the radio for help.”

The defense, led by Imran Khan KC, painted a far different picture. He accused the officer of a “shocking dereliction of duty” and suggested that the force used was neither “necessary, reasonable, nor proportionate.”

“The defense case is that you failed to follow professional standards,” Mr. Khan put to the officer. “You used unlawful force, and my client was simply trying to defend himself and his brother from an out-of-control policeman.”

“I completely disagree,” PC Marsden shot back.

The Aftermath

The court heard that following the brawl, PC Marsden was treated in hospital for jaw pain and bruising, and was later diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.

The brothers, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, deny assaulting PC Marsden causing him actual bodily harm. The jury has already been informed that Amaaz was convicted last year for the initial Starbucks assault and for the attacks on the two female officers during the airport fracas.

As the trial continues, the public is left to grapple with the haunting question raised by the defense: whether the “thin blue line” held firm that day, or whether it snapped under the pressure of a violent confrontation in one of Britain’s busiest transport hubs.

The trial continues.