Does a viral image circulating on the internet show Belfast knife attack victim Stephen Ogilvie with bloody slash marks and stitches on his face in the hospital? No, that's not true: The Police Service of Nothern Ireland confirmed to Lead Stories that the man in the image is not Ogilvie, who was attacked in Belfast on June 8, 2026. A Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder over the attack, which prompted significant unrest in Northern Ireland.
The claim appeared in a June 10, 2026, post on X account @ianmiles (archived here). It opened:
This is a photo of the man who had his eye gouged out and was almost decapitated by a Sudanese migrant...
This is what the image looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @ianmiles on X.)
Ogilvie was attacked on Kinnaird Avenue in North Belfast on June 8, 2026, as BBC News reported (archived here).
Lead Stories contacted the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and a spokesperson responded via email on June 10, 2026, confirming that the person in the image is not Ogilvie:
We acknowledge that the family of the attempted murder victim in north Belfast have called for privacy at this time. Despite this, we are aware of inaccurate images circulating claiming to be the victim after the attack. They are not related to anyone involved in the attempted murder. We believe these images are being used to arouse fear and hatred.
