Woman falsely identified as officer in Nowak case 'scared for safety'

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Woman falsely identified as officer in Nowak case 'scared for safety'24 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKayleen Devlin & Kevin Nguyen , VerifyandAndré Rhoden-Paul Watch: Former police officer wrongly identified in Henry Nowak arrest received 'endless threats'A former police officer wrongly identified as being at the scene of Henry Nowak's arrest and subsequent death has said she is scared for her safety and has been hiding in a safe house. Christi Hill said she left Hampshire Constabulary in April 2024 - more than a year before Nowak was fatally stabbed in December 2025 - and told Verify she was wrongly identified by social media users and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok, leading to "threats of violence". Hill criticised Grok, which is part of Elon Musk's xAI group, for the "chaos" it caused by misidentifying her, and Hampshire police for not publicly confirming she was not involved.

Hampshire Constabulary and xAI have been approached for comment. There has been widespread outrage after bodycam footage showed police officers putting 18-year-old university student Nowak in handcuffs as he lay dying, after his killer Vickrum Digwa claimed he had been the victim of a racial attack. The footage showed the teenager repeatedly tell officers that he had been stabbed, with one replying: "I don't think so mate".

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Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years for murder. Verify has also obtained evidence that current police officer Tristan Parsons, who was also wrongly accused online of being involved, was not in the country at the time of Nowak's murder. He is also in hiding.

A jury inquest into Nowak's death next year will look at whether any "act or omission by a police officer" caused or contributed to his death in Southampton. Starmer accuses Musk of trying to whip up division over Henry Nowak murderHenry Nowak inquest to probe actions of policeHenry Nowak's death raises more questions about UK policing and raceMusk has also been criticised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who accused him of trying to "whip up division" in the UK over Nowak's murder. The billionaire X owner has posted numerous times on the platform about the police's response to the stabbing, criticising "how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments".

Sir Keir told reporters on Thursday: "We need to also assert who we are as a country, because Musk, again, has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division – that is not who we are in Britain... "When we have a terrible case like Henry's case, Henry Nowak, we react calmly, as his family have done. "Hill said she first became aware of the false posts around 03:00 BST on Tuesday when she started receiving notifications.

"I just couldn't believe it, it was just picture after picture... after opening the messages and social media it was an onslaught from the beginning really," she said, speaking from an undisclosed location.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.