What was claimed
PC Christi Hill and PC Tristan Parsons were the officers who arrested Henry Nowak after he was stabbed.
Our verdict
False. Hampshire Police Federation has confirmed Christi Hill and Tristan Parsons were not among the officers involved in Henry Nowak’s arrest.
Posts on social media have incorrectly named the officers involved in the arrest of Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed after being stabbed in December 2025, as PC Christi Hill and PC Tristan Parsons.
Hampshire police have not named the officers involved in the arrest, though they have warned about online posts “sharing names that are simply not true”.
But Hampshire Police Federation (a staff association for the force) has confirmed to Full Fact that neither Christi Hill nor Tristan Parsons were involved in the incident, which saw killer Vickrum Digwa lie to police at the scene, claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack.
Recently released footage of Mr Nowak’s arrest shows him saying “I've been stabbed” and an officer replying “I don't think you have mate”.
Join 73,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
In a post published on LinkedIn, which has also been reported by the Guardian and Portsmouth local paper The News, a woman who said she was the Christi Hill misidentified in the online posts confirmed she was not involved in the incident. She said she had left Hampshire Constabulary in April 2024, more than a year before Mr Nowak’s death, and said a former colleague she had been pictured with had “also been wrongfully targeted”.
Images of Christi Hill and Tristan Parsons which are circulating online alongside the false claims they arrested Henry Nowak appear to come from old Hampshire Police Federation articles about their nomination for National Police Bravery awards.
The LinkedIn post said: “It is alarming to see how quickly a piece of outdated media can be weaponised by algorithms and accepted as fact... It is deeply unsettling to have my name wrongly attached to such a high-profile and sensitive matter whilst there has been a clear lack of support from Hampshire Constabulary in rectifying this false narrative in a timely manner.
“My primary thoughts remain with the family affected by this tragedy. They deserve justice and clarity, not the noise of online misinformation.”
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary criticised the “significant spread of misinformation online”, and said it had seen some “threats to officers” and posts “sharing names that are simply not true”.
It added that “a police officer unrelated to this case has been misidentified online and subject to death threats” and asked people to “avoid harmful speculation online”.
When we asked Hampshire Police Federation to confirm that Christi Hill and Tristan Parsons had been misidentified, a spokesperson told us: “I can confirm neither of the officers you named were involved in the incident.”
Full Fact often sees people being mistakenly identified as perpetrators or victims during significant events such as this, and we have previously fact checked a number of claims which identified the wrong person in the aftermath of a major incident. It’s important to consider whether what you are seeing is accurate before sharing.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because Hampshire Police Federation has confirmed Christi Hill and Tristan Parsons were not the officers involved in Henry Nowak’s arrest.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Fact checking claims made by politicians, public figures and viral online content can give you the full picture backed by the evidence.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.