A retrial jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts over allegations that two brothers assaulted a police officer at Manchester Airport, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to try the case for a third time.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, denied assaulting Greater Manchester PC Zachary Marsden in the car park pay station area of terminal two on 23 July 2024. Jurors were told they could return a majority verdict, but after nearly 20 hours of deliberation they were unable to agree and were discharged.
The case turned on what happened after police approached the brothers from Rochdale at the pay station following an earlier incident at a coffee shop. The brothers told the court they had acted in lawful self-defence, or in defence of the other, and the jury was left to weigh those accounts against the allegations that led to the charge.
The deadlock leaves the case unresolved for now. It has been adjourned until 29 May, giving the Crown Prosecution Service time to decide whether it wants to seek a third trial.
