A man has told a court he feared he would be “battered” to death by police at Manchester Airport.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, is accused of assaulting three Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers as they attempted to arrest him last year.
The incident happened in the Terminal 2 car park on 23 July.
PC Zachary Marsden and PC Ellie Cook, as well as PC Lydia Ward, tried to detain him for allegedly headbutting a man in an airport Starbucks.
Footage shows him resisting and a brawl breaking out involving police, himself and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26.
Another video shows PC Marsden kick his head and stamp near him.
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Fears PC ‘would have killed me’
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court heard Amaaz give evidence on Thursday, where he said he was acting in self-defence and in defence of his brother after he was grabbed at the ticket machine with no explanation.
Amaaz said he recognised an officer – identified as PC Marsden – had a hold of his left arm, and told the court: “At first he grabs me and then he just forces me against the ticket machine.
“All of a sudden, I remember him grabbing the back of my neck and trying to force me to the ground… I was frightened.
“I just didn’t want to go down to the ground. Honestly, I believed if he took me to the ground, I thought he would have battered me to the point where I was dead and he would have killed me.”
Amaaz then told the court he was fearful as “some police officers have abused their powers” to fatal consequences, and said he resisted as a result.
When asked if he thought there was a “legitimate reason” for grabbing him, Amaaz said he “would have expected them to give me that reason and communicated to us in some way”.
Punch at PC ‘just to stop attack’
He told the court he saw his brother being punched in the face “repeatedly,” before going on to strike the two female officers.
Both officers were knocked to the ground, with PC Ward suffering a broken nose. Amaaz said he kicked out at one of the officers to “get him away” from his brother and then punched PC Cook for the same reason.
He hit PC Ward after he felt a punch go towards his throat, he said, adding he punched “just to stop the attack” and to “protect myself”.
Amaaz then told the court he saw PC Marsden pointing what he thought was a gun – which was in fact a Taser – at his brother.
He then ran towards PC Marsden and struck him from behind before PC Cook fired her Taser at him, before saying he thought he was “dying” as he and the male officer fell backwards.
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Kick from officer ‘knocked me out’
While on the ground, Amaaz was kicked in the head by PC Marsden, who was seen to stamp near him afterwards.
“I remember hearing shouting from one side and lifting my head to see who is shouting,” he said. “I remember a boot coming straight for my face.
“As soon as it hit me it knocked me out for a few seconds and I think the stamp woke me up.”
He said he did not see the stamp, but felt a “sort of shove downwards to the floor,” and added that he had no hostility towards the police and that another brother, Abid, was a serving GMP officer.
“Throughout the whole incident, me and my brother was under attack,” he told the court.
“I was trying to protect myself and him. I just felt I was fighting for my life.”
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Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Ward and PC Marsden, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of the assault of PC Cook and the earlier assault in Starbucks of Abdulkareem Ismaeil.
Amaad is alleged to have assaulted Pc Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
Both men, from Rochdale, deny the allegations. The trial continues.
