Violent protests have taken over a major UK city after the stabbing murder of an 18-year-old student who bled to death while being handcuffed by police.
Violent protests have taken over a major UK city after the stabbing murder of an 18-year-old student who bled to death while being handcuffed by police.
UK police have been pelted with bricks and bins as violent protests erupted in the southern city of Southampton on Tuesday, following the release of harrowing bodycam footage showing the arrest of 18-year-old stabbing victim Henry Nowak as he bled to death, falsely accused of racism by his murderer.
Sikh man Vickrum Digwa, 23, has been jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years after he was last week found guilty of murder and carrying a knife in public, following a two-week trial in Southampton Crown Court.
Digwa, described by prosecutors as obsessed with weapons, stabbed the first-year finance student five times with an eight-inch ceremonial blade as the teen made his way home from a night out with his football team members last December.
Bodycam footage showed Mr Nowak repeatedly saying “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe” as arriving officers instead sided with his killer, who — along with his assembled family members — falsely claimed he had been racially abused and assaulted.
“You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts? I don’t think you have, mate,” one officer tells a dying Mr Nowak in the footage.
A demonstrators throws a bin at police officers. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
‘Two-tier scum’
As outrage spread over the officers’ actions — which are now under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) — far-right figures seized on the case, including firebrand Tommy Robinson, who spoke at a rally in Southampton claiming police treat white British people as “second-rate citizens”.
Protesters then marched through the city centre towards the scene of the crime, where police blocked the road. Demonstrators attacked officers with bricks, bottles and bins.
Riots erupted in Southampton on Tuesday. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
More than a thousand protesters had gathered outside the main police station in Southampton on Tuesday evening, chanting “two-tier scum” and “shame on you” and waving British Union Jack and England flags, AFP reported.
Other protesters chanted “Henry, Henry” at the riot police blocking the street during the march. One protester wore a t-shirt that said “RIP Henry Nowak” while a minute’s silence was held for Mr Nowak, followed by applause.
Robinson told the crowd that “if Henry wasn’t white, he wouldn’t have been handcuffed” and that “as white people, we are treated as second-rate citizens by our own police force”.
The far-right figure reportedly told the crowd, “The arresting officer has resigned” and added, “We don’t want him to resign, we want him in prison.”
Furious protesters clashed with riot police. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
Protesters, some wearing masks, then marched to the St Denys residential area near where the crime took place and attacked a line of riot police, chanting “scum”.
A group of around a hundred protesters pulled apart garden fences, threw bricks, flares and chairs, and rolled a flaming bin at police, who used a spray on demonstrators and whacked them with riot shields.
American tech tycoon Elon Musk posted on X an offer to fund a private prosecution against the police over their handling of the murder.
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Picture: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
‘Completely unacceptable’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, “The scenes this evening in Portswood are completely unacceptable”.
“The Nowak family made a powerful call to us all yesterday to not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension,” Ms Mahmood wrote on X.
“There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law. I thank the police who have tonight shown great bravery and calm in the face of disgraceful violence directed at them.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the bodycam footage was “harrowing” and called the investigation by the IOPC “absolutely right”, acknowledging there are “serious questions for the police to answer”.
The Home Secretary called the scenes ‘completely unacceptable’. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
Ms Mahmood urged people not to allow the murder to “turn communities against one another”, in comments to parliament.
Main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and far-right Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for changes to police diversity policies.
“We’re living in a two-tier culture … where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities,” Mr Farage said.
Ms Badenoch accused Mr Farage of “deepening divisions”, but also took aim at so-called “two-tier policing”, in which officers are seen as dealing with ethnic minorities more leniently.
A demonstrator confronts a police officer. Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
‘I can’t breathe’
Speaking after Digwa’s sentencing, Mr Nowak’s father, Mark, told how he would be haunted forever by his son’s murder.
He broke down in tears as he continued, “As a father, it is my job to protect my child, and I failed to keep him safe. I was not there when he needed me most. The thought of him lying in the road, scared, bleeding to death, will haunt me forever.”
He also branded the way his son was treated as “degrading” and “inhumane”, adding, “Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.”
The family gave permission for police to release the bodycam footage.
Released by Hampshire Police late on Monday night, the three-minute video shows officers arriving at the scene at 11.37pm on December 3.
Mr Nowak can be heard pleading “I can’t breathe”, as Digwa’s father holds him on the ground, telling officers the teen had fallen from a fence and hurt himself.
Digwa tells the officer “he’s grabbed my brother, he’s took my turban off, started grabbing my hair and stuff like that … I’ve got swelling eye, little bruising”.
Officers grab Mr Nowak and drag him across the driveway.
“I’ve been stabbed. I’ve been stabbed,” Mr Nowak pleads repeatedly. “I can’t breathe.”
“Right, what’s happened to you?” the officer asks.
“I’ve been stabbed,” Mr Nowak repeats.
Bodycam shows Henry Nowak’s final moments. Picture: @ZiaYusufUK/X
“You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts? I don’t think you have, mate,” the officer says.
Police then roll Mr Nowak onto his stomach and two officers handcuff him behind his back as the teen desperately cries “I can’t breathe”.
“Put the hand in the cuff, mate,” the officer says, as Mr Nowak is heard gasping for air.
He continues to plead “I can’t breathe”.
“Where do you think you’ve been stabbed? In the face?” a female officer says.
“He hasn’t been stabbed,” one of the Digwas says.
“I know, but we have to check, don’t we?” the female officer says.
“Please, brother, I can’t breathe,” Mr Nowak says.
Those were the 18-year-old’s final words.
At this point Mr Nowak appears to lose consciousness.
Henry Nowak, 18, stabbed to death after a night out in December. Picture: Supplied
“What’s your name, mate?” the male officer asks again, before reading the unresponsive teen his rights.
“At the moment you are under arrest, that’s for assault, so you do not have to say anything that may harm your defence … anything you do say may be given in evidence, all right?” he says.
“He’s going to be sick, I think.”
The three police officers finally realise Mr Nowak needs medical attention.
“Yeah, um we’ve got this male, he’s been beat up. Are we able to get an ambulance, please?” a female officer says over the radio.
