Politics latest: Henry Nowak protesters hurl bottles and bricks at police in violent clashes – UK Times

Demonstrators last night clashed with riot police near Henry Nowak’s home, pelting them with burning bins, as well as bottles, stones and flares.

It comes despite calls from Mr Nowak’s family for his death not to be used to create division.

In a statement after his killer Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years on Monday, they said they wanted to use Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better.

“We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone,” his father, Mark Nowak, said in a statement outside Southampton Crown Court.

“That is why we are calling on the Government to treat knife crime as the national emergency it is.

He continued: “This doesn’t mean knee-jerk reactions. This doesn’t mean going to extremes. It just means a common-sense approach to law and order.

“As the KC for the Prosecution summed up in Court: This is not a case about Sikhism. This is not a case about racism. This is a case about murder.”

Policing minister Sarah Jones has said she believes a document outlining the police’s anti-racism commitment is “wrong”.

The document, produced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), says officers should respond to individuals and communities “according to their specific needs”, which “does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’”.

Asked whether the document is in line with the government’s insistence the police treat everyone equally, Ms Jones said: “I think it’s clumsy, and I think it’s right that they’re reviewing it.”

She told Sky News: “This is a quite a small values document, a sort of summary, and I think it’s not written in the way that it should be, and it’s right that it should be reviewed.

“But I think that shouldn’t be taken to mean we need to rip up the whole system- we don’t – but I think this document is wrong.”

Policing minister Sarah Jones told Times Radio that people with understandable anger about the Henry Nowak case should “allow justice to do its course”.

She said: “Firstly, everyone must be equal under the law and we must ensure that is the case.

“Secondly, we can’t shy away from what are historic and legitimate concerns about racism within police forces.

“We have seen that in multiple ways over many years and we should not shy away from that.

“And that is why there is a race action plan that was introduced under the last government to make sure training and support to officers is what it should be.

“I think, personally, that if you look at the thousands of incidents every day where the police respond to 100,000 999 calls, that in the vast majority of cases the police get this balance right.

“But it is, it is also right that wherever mistakes are made, we shine a light on those, we learn lessons from those and we take it forward.”

She added: “We are urging that people take the anger that they feel, which I understand, but let’s allow justice to do its course, and let’s not over-react, which indeed is what the family are asking us to do as well.”

Two people were arrested after unrest in Southampton following the murder of Henry Nowak, policing minister Sarah Jones said.

She urged people not to “overreact” following the murder of the student by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, who told police attending the scene of the stabbing in Southampton on 3 December 2025 that he had been the victim of a racist attack.

Ms Jones told Times Radio: “Some of what we saw yesterday was unacceptable.

“There have been two arrests, as I understand it from my briefing this morning, one for assault of a police officer, one for possession of a weapon.

“We can’t allow – and the family said this, and we have to take our lead from them, and they have acted with such dignity, it’s quite extraordinary and I think most of us feel that we couldn’t possibly do that if we were in that situation – but they have said we do not want to create further division, hatred, or tension, and I think we need to respect that.”

The Labour MP for Thurrock in Kent, where Henry Nowak was from, condemned the footage of Henry Nowak’s wrongful arrest as “absolutely horrific”.

” I cannot imagine what the family think when they watched that, how that felt for them to watch their loved ones final moments were spent in that really, truly atrocious way,” Jen Craft told The Cathy Newman Show on Sky.

“And always the kind of, you know, the cold rage that comes over you when you see something like that take place.”

Asked whether she shared the feelings of Nigel Farage, who used the phrase “cold rage”, she said: “I share the anger at watching what happened to my constituent who was, you know, by all accounts, a really, really lovely young man that had so much warmth around him.

“I think the rage I feel was just seeing how utterly unfair it feels that in his last moments, that’s how he was treated.”

Amy-Clare Martin the Independent’s crime correspondent reports:

The National Police Chiefs’ Council say if needed they will amend some of the wording of the Police Anti-Racism Commitment published by the Police Race Action Plan last year.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “It is essential that we police without fear or favour in keeping the peace and enforcing the law.

“We must do so to earn the confidence of all communities.

“We also know that people from Black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police.

“Recent independent inquiries such as by Baroness Louise Casey have also urged our service to renew its efforts to address racism and discrimination.

“This historic and ongoing mistrust between the police and Black communities risks for example people not reporting things to the police if they are in trouble or aiding our efforts to catch criminals, fight crime and protect all communities.

“We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing.”

Kemi Badenoch said she thought of her son when watching the “horrific” video of Henry Nowak.

She said: “I just kept thinking, that’s someone’s boy. That could be my boy. That could have been any kid. He’s just a child. It’s harrowing. He must be absolutely terrified.

“Dying like that is the thing that really disturbed me. No one should die like that. Even criminals don’t die like that. And Henry did not deserve that.”