No third retrial for brothers accused of assaulting Manchester officer

The Crown Prosecution Service will not pursue a third trial over the alleged assault on PC Zachary Marsden, ending the latest attempt to resolve a case that grew out of the violent Manchester Airport confrontation that spread across social media.

Muhammad Amaad and Mohammed Fahir Amaaz had denied assaulting the Greater Manchester Police officer and said they were not the aggressors, arguing that they acted in lawful self-defence or in defence of each other. Their retrial at Liverpool Crown Court ended on 20 May 2026 after jurors deliberated for nearly 20 hours and were discharged by Judge Neil Flewitt KC when they could not agree on verdicts, even after being told majority verdicts were permitted. Judge Flewitt said a further trial would be unusual but not unknown.

The CPS had been given until 29 May 2026 to decide whether to seek another hearing, but it has now said there will be no second retrial, meaning prosecutors will not press ahead with a third run at the case. Under CPS guidance, prosecutors apply the Full Code Test, weighing whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether a prosecution remains in the public interest. The service says there is a very clear presumption and expectation against a third trial after two juries fail to reach a verdict, unless there are very exceptional circumstances.

Greater Manchester Police said it was disappointed that a verdict could not be reached and said it would continue to support the prosecution and the officers affected. The force has previously said the assault case was built on extensive CCTV and body-worn camera footage, and that the officers suffered concussion, a broken nose, bruising and swelling.

The case has carried unusual public weight because it came from a heavily filmed confrontation at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 on 23 July 2024, after a report that a man matching Amaaz’s description had headbutted a member of the public in a Starbucks café. Officers moved into the car-park pay-station area, where the confrontation escalated and the footage quickly went viral. Prosecutors said the officers were carrying out their lawful duty when they tried to detain Amaaz and that Amaad then intervened.

The decision leaves part of the airport case unresolved, but it does not erase the earlier outcome. In July 2025, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz was convicted of common assault and two counts of actual bodily harm for attacking a member of the public and two female officers, PC Lydia Ward and PC Ellie Cook, in the same incident.