Airport trial judge referred Nigel Farage comments to UK attorney general

Public comments made by Nigel Farage during the first Manchester Airport assault trial were referred by the judge to the UK attorney general for potential prosecution.

The Reform UK leader spoke out about the case as the trial of Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, was ongoing at Liverpool Crown Court.

On June 21st, Farage told a press conference: “In a system of two-tier policing, under two-tier justice, under two-tier Keir, has really taken hold.

“You only have to look at the reluctance to prosecute those violent thugs in Manchester Airport who beat up the police officers.

“It took months and months for any prosecution to be brought, and I suspect the reason that it happened is because Reform said if they didn’t we would take out our own private prosecution.”

Later that day – and not in front of the jury – Judge Neil Flewitt KC said a member of the public had informed him over lunch about the comments from Farage.

The judge said: “It would have been better not said. That’s probably an understatement.”

Earlier in the trial he rejected an application from the defence teams to throw out the case on the grounds that Amaaz and Amaad could not have a fair trial because of ongoing prejudicial comments on social media.

He has a following of some 2.2 million. So this is not some crackpot individual or conspiracy theorist who does not know how the criminal system works

Imran Khan KC, defending Amaaz, invited the judge to revisit that decision and he was again asked to discharge the jury and postpone a retrial until a later date.

He said Farage was “somebody who has a huge influence on British politics”.

He said: “He is touted as a potential prime minister. What he says has a great deal of impact.

“We know it has been tweeted and retweeted. He has a following of some 2.2 million. So this is not some crackpot individual or conspiracy theorist who does not know how the criminal system works.”

Khan also pointed out that the comments were made during the defence case at a “critical time in the trial”.

Judge Flewitt said: “I don’t mean in any way to downplay the inappropriateness of what was said (by Farage) but it doesn’t seem to add anything to the material that I considered last week.”

He said he continued to have “confidence” in the jury to consider the case impartially.

Later in a written ruling, he said: “I took the view that the observation made by Nigel Farage was potentially a contempt of court as it implied the guilt of the defendants.

“As Nigel Farage is a well-known politician with a considerable following and whose public utterances attract a lot of attention, I decided to refer the matter to the Attorney General so that he could consider whether there should be a prosecution for contempt of court.

“That matter is now out of my hands.”

He added: “It was also necessary for me to consider whether this development had the potential to affect the fairness of the trial

“I decided that this intervention, however unwelcome, would not adversely affect the fairness of the trial.”

The Attorney General’s Office has since confirmed that law officers have not issued contempt proceedings in the case.

The attorney general can bring proceedings for contempt of court against anyone who prejudices or obstructs the administration of justice, or creates a real risk of that happening.

Amaaz was convicted of assaulting two female officers and a member of the public at the airport in July 2024.

Jurors could not reach verdicts on further allegations that he and his brother, Amaad, assaulted a male police officer as a retrial was ordered.

The jury failed to reach verdicts in the retrial, and Amaaz and Amaad will not face a third trial, with Amaaz, who was remanded in custody in July 2024, due to be sentenced on June 26th.

Speaking outside court on Friday, the brothers’ solicitor Aamer Anwar said: “Since the two brothers were charged in 2024, they have been subjected to an orgy of race hate.

“Social media posts viewed by millions, created a highly prejudicial atmosphere in which a lynch mob mentality that was racist and anti-Muslim, called for deportation, riots, the death penalty and hanging of the two brothers if they were acquitted – even their sister and her newborn baby were threatened.

“The two brothers have been accused of being rapists, terrorists, drug dealers, yet they are nothing of the sort.

“It is a matter of record that prior to this incident that both Fahir Amaaz and Mohammed Amaad had never been in trouble before and they come from a law-abiding family of multiple police officers, who still serve with Greater Manchester Police.

“The trial judge last year in the first trial referred Nigel Farage to the Attorney-General for the consideration of contempt of court. We also lodged a dossier with the Attorney General on Mr Farage and several prominent far-right social media offenders.

“Dangerous pogrom-like attitudes have contributed to a culture of hostility in this case, and indeed any trial in this country involving defendants from a black, minority ethnic or Muslim community.

“The far-right regularly claim there is a two-tier justice system, yet they are the ones who operate outwith the law, incite social media hate, inflame conspiracy theories and attack the right to a fair trial.

It was disappointing that the attorney general did not believe there was substantial risk of those comments seriously prejudicing the course of justice and chose to take no action.

“The right to a fair trial is a fundamental principle of the justice system, where public commentary or online activity undermines that principle, the law should be applied consistently and without fear or favour.”