After nearly five months, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced charges against two men over alleged attacks on police officers caught on CCTV at the Manchester Airport.
Brothers Mohammed Amaaz, 20, and Muhammed Amaad, 25, have been charged with assaulting police officers and will appear at the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on January 16th, the BBC reports.
The charges stem over a incident at the Manchester Airport in July in which multiple police officers were injured, including a female officer who reportedly suffered a broken nose.
Initially, the police were accused of racism after a clip of the incident appeared to show an officer kicking a man in the head. The clip sparked Muslim protests in the area, including outside of the Rochdale police headquarters.
However, additional footage later emerged seeming to show that the police were attacked first.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Friday that no charges were being brought against any police officers involved in the incident. Meanwhile an officer who was suspended following the fight has since been reinstated.
A separate investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is still examining the actions of two officers.
The CPS said that Mohammed Amaaz has been charged with two counts of causing bodily harm, one count of assaulting an emergency worker, and one charge of common assault. His brother, Muhammed Amaad, has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker and causing bodily harm.
Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service said that it was a “high-profile incident that attracted significant public interest”.
He said that following “careful consideration”, including examining the video footage and witness statements, the CPS had “concluded that two men should be charged with offences including assaults on police officers”.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which had hired private prosecutors to wage a case against the brothers amid apparent innaction from the Crown Prosecution Service, claimed Friday that the decision to charge Amaaz and Amaad was due to “the pressure applied by Reform UK MPs.”
“For months Reform UK have been the only party standing up for our brave officers in light of the horrific attacks they faced. While the rest of the political establishment were silent, we pursued a private prosecution to ensure justice was served,” Nigel Farage and deputy leader Richard Tice said in a statement.
“It’s quite clear that Reform UK are the only political party in the UK that stand for a single tier justice system and law and order to be applied to everyone.
“We trust now the IOPC will conclude its investigation and exonerate the officers, nothing less will be acceptable. We also note this decision has been made a day after Parliament has gone into recess.”