A 54-year-old British man, Peter Cunningham, has spoken out after being wrongly accused on social media of driving the car that ploughed into crowds during a celebration of Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League victory.
The incident, which occurred on Monday in Liverpool city centre, left 79 people injured. While police have arrested a 53-year-old suspect from West Derby, they have not yet named him publicly, fuelling online speculation and false accusations.
Cunningham, a resident of Huyton in Liverpool, said he has been forced to move his children from their home for safety after his image was falsely circulated online as the suspect. “It’s not me,” he told the BBC. “I was down Queens Drive with my children. I wouldn’t go into town because I knew it was too crowded.”
He said the police must do more to protect innocent people wrongly accused in the wake of such high-profile events. “I’m in a completely different car, I’ve got a Hyundai. Family and friends are calling me. It could get a whole lot worse if the police don’t step in.”
According to him, the panic began after a social media user on platform X falsely named him in a reply to a post seeking the identity of the driver. A photo of Cunningham was later posted on Instagram with the same false claim. The photo matched the one on his Facebook profile, making it spread quickly. The Instagram post has since been deleted, but the damage had already been done.
“I’ve had to move my children to a different house today because we’re that nervous,” Cunningham said.
Disinformation expert Marianna Spring of the BBC noted that such incidents are becoming more common. “After high-profile events, people rush to name suspects online without evidence. In many cases, the wrongly accused face real-world consequences, while those spreading lies face none,” she said.
Merseyside Police have urged the public not to speculate as investigations continue. The suspect remains in custody after police were granted an extension to hold him until Thursday.
Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said the investigation is progressing and CCTV is being used to trace the suspect’s movements before the crash. “We are identifying more people who were injured, and we continue to support those still in hospital,” she said.
Water Street, where the crash happened, has since reopened. Seven people remain in hospital, though all are reportedly in stable condition.
Police confirmed the crash is not being treated as terrorism-related. Under UK law, police generally cannot name a suspect until they are formally charged. This rule, however, can cause issues when speculation fills the gap.
The incident has sparked a renewed call for social media accountability, as the impact of false identification continues to harm innocent lives.
