The man accused of assaulting police at Manchester Airport was “aggressive” and got “in the face” of another traveller before head-butting him, a witness told a court.
The incident at a Starbucks coffee house at Terminal Two of Manchester Airport led to police being called, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
When police arrived they traced brothers Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, who was leaving the airport after picking up their mother from a flight from Qatar.
As the brothers went to pay for parking, police arrived to arrest them but they resisted using a “high level of violence” and assaulted three officers, it is alleged.
Both incidents were caught on CCTV, shown to the jury.
The brothers, from Rochdale, deny the alleged offences on July 23 last year and claim self-defence.
Traveller Abdulkareem Ismaeil and the defendant’s mother had been on the same flight and “something happened” the jury was told, that upset the defendant’s mother.
Mr Ismaeil, with his wife, two young daughters and young son, had stopped at the Starbucks while leaving the terminal when the defendant’s mother passed by and pointed him out to her sons.
Cameron Cartledge was the manager at the Starbucks and was in the office doing paperwork and preparing the shift handover before going home when he heard “raised voices” and went to the door, he told the court.
As his colleague prepared the order for Mr Ismaeil at the counter, he saw another man, wearing a blue track-suit, identified as Amaaz, “quite close to him, shouting at him”.
Mr Cartledge said the shouting was in a foreign language he did not understand.
The witness said: “At the time of the arguing he was very close to him, like in his face.
“Blue track-suit man seemed quite aggressive, obviously annoyed about something, I don’t know what. Blue track-suit man was aggressively shouting.
“Because his body language, his tone of voice was quite aggressive.”
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC, asked the witness: “What about Mr Ismaeil, the man with his back against the counter?”
Mr Cartledge said: “He had a raised voice, but I would say he was more defensive than aggressive.
“There was arguing, I don’t know what was being said, then blue track-suit man head butted the man we see in the black.
“He got him in the face. It did not look like it hurt Mr Ismaeil much but it was forceful enough to make him stagger back into the counter.”
Mr Carledge said before the two men were split up, Amaaz threw two punches but he thought they landed on Mr Ismaeil’s shoulder.
Mr Carledge said, working at the airport, he saw people “arguing all the time” but, after witnessing the headbutt, called police.
Mr Greaney said: “Why did you call police?”
“Well, he had just assaulted him,” the witness replied.
Police traced the brothers leaving the airport where violence erupted again, the court heard.
Amaaz denies one count of assault to Mr Ismaeil and three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Pc Zachary Marsden, Pc Ellie Cook and Pc Lydia Ward.
His brother Amaad, denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Pc Marsden.
Imran Khan KC, defending Amaaz, suggested to Mr Cartledge that the conversation he had heard was in fact in English.
Mr Cartledge replied: “It didn’t sound like it was in English.”
Asked if he sensed any aggression from Mr Ismaeil, Mr Cartledge said: “No, he was more defensive. He just stood there probably more worried about his children behind him.”
Starbucks barista Justine Pakalne also told the court she did not believe the conversation between the two men was in English.
Mr Khan put it to the witness that Mr Ismaeil was the “aggressor” and that he had stepped forwards towards Amaaz.
Ms Pakalne said: “Even if he stepped forward he didn’t lay a hand on him. It was the other way round – he (Amaaz) headbutted him.”
The trial continues on Monday.
