In an unexpected development, two men seen in CCTV footage attacking police officers at Manchester airport in July have been charged by the CPS and the police officers involved have all been cleared. The Mail has the story.
Two brothers have been charged with assault following a brawl at Manchester Airport which sparked anti-police protests over the summer after partial footage was widely shared on social media.
The furore erupted in July after videos of the incident shared online showed an officer kicking 20-year-old Mohammed Amaaz during an attempted arrest of him and his 25-year-old brother Muhammed Amaad.
Tensions were raised further when their lawyer Akhmed Yakoob claimed the fracas had been an “attempted assassination”, triggering anti-police protests in the brothers’ home town of Rochdale.
But dramatic CCTV footage then revealed the three police officers had been attacked, leaving a WPC with a broken nose and another officer slumped on the floor.
Last month, with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) apparently no closer to announcing charges against the brothers, Nigel Farage hired two solicitors to bring a case against them.
He contrasted prosecutors’ slow progress with bringing charges against the pair with the ultra-fast prosecution of far-Right [sic] figures “who said unpleasant things on social media” and suggested this was evidence of a “two-tier” justice system.
But now the CPS has said the two men have been charged with assaults on police officers on July 23rd and that none of the police officers will face charges.
Mohammed Amaaz is charged with two offences of causing actual bodily harm, one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and one charge of common assault, while Muhammed Amaad, 25, is charged with causing actual bodily harm.
Today, Mr. Farage’s Reform U.K. party said the charging of two men after a disturbance at Manchester Airport was “long overdue” and claimed its legal threat had prompted prosecutors to act.
Mr. Farage and his deputy Richard Tice said in a statement today: “It’s obvious the CPS has only charged the attackers today because of the pressure applied by Reform U.K. MPs.”
They added they expect a parallel investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to “exonerate” the police officers, adding that “Nothing less will be acceptable”.
The IOPC said its investigation into the use of force by police on six people was nearing completion.
Worth reading in full.
Only took five months.
Yet in September we learned that “a criminal investigation has been launched into who gave Manchester Airport CCTV footage to the Manchester Evening News following the police ‘stamp’ incident”.
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