Crime03 June, 20263 min read
Full Fact Warns Against False Names After Henry Nowak Handcuffed Arrest Footage
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Hampshire police apologized to Nowak's family for handcuffing and arresting him. Bodycam shows Nowak telling officers he had been stabbed and could not breathe.
Nowak arrest misinformation
In December 2025, Henry Nowak was handcuffed after being stabbed, and posts on social media incorrectly named the officers involved as PC Christi Hill and PC Tristan Parsons. Full Fact reported that Hampshire police had not named the officers involved but warned about online posts “sharing names that are simply not true,” while Hampshire Police Federation confirmed to Full Fact that neither Christi Hill nor Tristan Parsons were involved. The same Full Fact account said 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”.
Full Fact also said a woman who claimed she was the Christi Hill misidentified online confirmed she was not involved and said she had left Hampshire Constabulary in April 2024, more than a year before Mr Nowak’s death. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary criticised the “significant spread of misinformation online” and said it had seen “threats to officers” and posts “sharing names that are simply not true”.
Police apology and investigation
Alexis Boon, chief constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight police, told the BBC the force is “sorry for handcuffing and arresting Henry [Nowak]”. The BBC reported Boon said he was “distressed” as others had been by bodycam footage showing the 18-year-old repeatedly telling officers that he had been stabbed and could not breathe. Boon said he was not going to resign over the matter and reiterated an apology on behalf of the force for the way Henry had been handcuffed and arrested.
The BBC said one of the officers in the bodycam video has now left the force for an unrelated reason and three others are no longer on front-line duties, and Boon said he would not pre-judge the outcome of an Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation. In the Guardian’s live coverage, Boon said, “What was filmed there was a tragedy, an absolute tragedy,” and asked people not to “prejudge an independent investigation or make assumptions”.
Aftermath, protests, and threats
ABC News said the killing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in December drew renewed attention after the killer was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years on Monday, and after the release of a video showing police dismissing Nowak when he said that he had been stabbed. ABC News reported that on Tuesday night, hundreds protested the arrest outside a Southampton police station, with some protesters shouting, “I can't breathe,” before a group walked to an area near where Nowak was killed and clashed with riot police. The BBC said the circumstances of Henry’s death resulted in widespread condemnation and political reaction, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying there had been 'multiple failures' and shadow home secretary Chris Philp saying “police appeared more concerned with the accusation of racism” than “helping Henry”.
The BBC also said Boon did not recognise the term “two-tier policing” and told the BBC he saw officers “day in and day out” doing their job for all communities. In Full Fact’s account of the online fallout, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said it had seen “threats to officers” and asked people to “avoid harmful speculation online”.