And the purpose behind where that money is being spent has caused taxpayers’ anger to explode more than ever before!**

Taxpayers are in uproar after fresh figures revealed that the two brothers at the centre of the infamous Manchester Airport brawl were handed a staggering **£113,000** in publicly funded legal aid. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, from Rochdale, and his older brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, both from Tarnside Close in Rochdale, will now be paid thousands each from the public purse to defend themselves after they allegedly launched a violent attack on Greater Manchester Police officers during a chaotic incident at Terminal 2 in July 2024.

The explosion of fury comes as the nation grapples with the broader cost of the prosecution — estimated at nearly **£2 million** — while the brothers’ own legal teams are still being bankrolled by hardworking British families. Social media is ablaze with posts demanding to know why the taxman is footing the bill for two men who punched, kicked and headbutted officers in what was meant to be a routine airport security operation. “How is this justice?” one viral thread read. “We’re paying for their defence while officers are still under investigation for what happened on camera.” The anger has been so intense that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage himself has called it “outrageous” and demanded an urgent review of the legal aid system.

The story erupted in July 2024 when mobile phone footage captured the moment a young man (later identified as Amaaz) was Tasered and then kicked in the face on the ground by armed officer PC Zachary Marsden. The clip, which showed what appeared to be a stamp aimed at his head, went viral almost instantly. It sparked protests, accusations of police brutality and months of headlines questioning whether officers had overstepped. CCTV released by the Manchester Evening News later showed the brothers throwing a “flurry of punches” at the three responding officers — including PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook — before the scuffle intensified in the car park pay station area.

Amaaz and Amaad, who had gone to the airport to collect their mother from a Qatar Airways flight, claimed the officers were racially abusing their mother in the Starbucks earlier in the day. They said they were acting in lawful self-defence. Amaad surrendered early in the confrontation, but Amaaz fought back, punching officers multiple times and elbow-striking one female colleague, which reportedly broke her nose. The brothers’ family had close links to Greater Manchester Police — six relatives are serving or former officers — a fact that later fuelled claims of a “police family” trying to shield its own.

After months of delays, two Crown Court trials took place at Liverpool Crown Court. In the first trial, Amaaz was convicted of assaulting two female officers and a Starbucks customer. He was jailed for three and a half years in June 2026. Amaad was acquitted of those charges but faced a single count of causing grievous bodily harm to PC Zachary Marsden — the officer captured on body-cam footage kicking and appearing to stamp on Amaaz. Two separate juries failed to reach a verdict on that charge after long deliberations. Prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue a third trial, and formal not-guilty verdicts were recorded against both brothers. Amaad was immediately released, while Amaaz remains behind bars.

The legal aid bill, however, is the part that has left taxpayers reeling. According to figures obtained by the Daily Mail through a Freedom of Information request, Amaaz received **£78,420.42** in total legal aid: **£59,200.70** for his barristers and **£19,219.72** for his solicitors. His brother Amaad was granted **£34,694.56** — **£16,450.94** for barristers and **£18,243.62** for solicitors. That brings the total for both men’s defence costs to **£113,114.98**.

The prosecution itself, meanwhile, has cost the taxpayer an estimated **£2 million** — police time, court resources, barristers on the CPS side, expert witnesses and the full investigation. The brothers’ legal teams fought the case aggressively, with one solicitor later telling the court their clients had faced “trial by court and by social media” and had been unable to work. Amaad’s lawyer Chloe Gardner even applied for a defendant costs order to recoup the brothers’ own expenses.

Now the taxman is footing the bill for their defence while the officers — including PC Marsden, who was suspended and later reinstated — remain under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for potential misconduct and gross assault. Two female officers suffered injuries, and the public is left wondering why the same system that jailed Amaaz for the other offences is now using public money to pay his brother’s lawyers to fight the remaining charge.

The anger has exploded because the figures come at a time when the government is under pressure to cut spending and tighten belts. Legal aid costs have already been blamed for contributing to the massive backlog in the criminal justice system. Critics argue that a family with links to the police force should not be enjoying taxpayer-funded high-powered legal representation when the officers involved are still being investigated. Social media users have demanded that the brothers’ family be deported back to Pakistan — a line that has gone viral on X and TikTok.

Inside court, the case became something of a mirror image of the outside world. At one point, the brothers’ defence team even referred Nigel Farage to the Attorney General for contempt of court after he called the incident “two-tier justice”. The judge, Neil Flewitt KC, later told Amaaz in sentencing that his actions had been “cowardly” and that he was the “aggressor”. Yet the same judge recorded not-guilty verdicts on the GBH charge after the prosecution offered no evidence for a third trial.

Prison authorities and Greater Manchester Police have so far refused to comment on the legal aid figures, citing operational security. The Crown Prosecution Service declined to comment on the cost breakdown. But the public reaction has been unanimous: disbelief, anger and a growing demand for transparency.

This is not the first time legal aid has been at the centre of controversy. Successive governments have increased legal aid spending, only for it to be slammed by taxpayers as a waste of money. In this case, however, the outrage runs deeper. Two brothers who allegedly assaulted officers are now being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to defend themselves — money that could have funded more police patrols, faster court processing or even tax cuts. The fact that one brother was convicted and imprisoned while the other walked free after a hung jury has only fuelled the sense that the system is broken and unfair.

As the brothers’ case grinds to its conclusion and Amaaz remains in prison serving his sentence, the £113,000 legal aid bill stands as a stark reminder of how much the criminal justice system is spending on one high-profile altercation. Taxpayers across Britain are asking the same question: when will the “two-tier” stop and when will the police who risk their lives every day be properly protected instead of being dragged into endless, expensive trials?

The story is still unfolding. But one thing is already clear — the British public is furious, and they are not afraid to say so.