Image of injured UK police officer isn't new. It's from 2020 | Fact check

The claim: Image shows police officer injured in July 2024 incident at UK airport

A July 26 Facebook post ( direct link , archive link ) shows an image of a woman with two black eyes and a bandage on her nose.

“This is female cop a Muslim man beat the hell out of two days ago (sic),” the post’s caption states.

Text in the image, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, also states in part that, “This is the Lady Police officer involved in the Manchester Airport incident.”

Versions of the claim were shared more than 100 times in three days, according to the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle and a USA TODAY review. They also were reposted hundreds of times on X .

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Our rating: False

The image is from 2020 and shows an officer from the U.K. who was injured in an unrelated incident.

Old image shows officer injured in 2020

A fight broke out July 23 at Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, and video of the police response shows an officer kicking and stomping on a man lying on the floor. The incident sparked protests and an investigation , with police saying in a statement that one officer was suspended, three officers were assaulted and one had her nose broken.

But the claim in the post is false. The image does not show the officer injured in the airport incident. Rather, it was captured in 2020 and shows an officer from another jurisdiction in the U.K.

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The image shows Maddie Hayes , a police constable in Leicestershire who authorities said was injured in September 2020 while attempting to handcuff a teenager. The incident left Hayes with two black eyes and 17 stitches that closed the wound on her broken nose . Multiple images documenting her injuries were published that December by various news outlets. The teen, whose name was not released, was sentenced to 12 months of community service and fined the equivalent of roughly $770, according to a January 2021 BBC report.

USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the post. One who responded did not provide evidence to support the claim. USA TODAY did not immediately receive responses from the others.

Reuters also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• BBC, Dec. 11, 2020, Leicestershire PC's nose left 'hanging off' after teen attack
• BBC, Jan. 12, 2021, Boy, 16, who left Leicestershire PC's nose 'hanging off' sentenced
• BBC Nottingham, Dec. 8, 2020, Facebook post

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of injured UK police officer isn't new. It's from 2020 | Fact check