As teenage student Henry Nowak lay handcuffed and dying on the floor after being stabbed, his killer Vickrum Digwa told arriving police officers he had been the victim of a racist attack.
But it was a “wicked lie”, a court heard on Monday.
Digwa had carried out a gruesome knife attack on Mr Nowak, which included two stab wounds to the back of his legs and a fatal wound to his heart using a large ceremonial knife the 21-year-old carried as part of his Sikh religion.
Moments before unleashing the violence, Digwa told Mr Nowak “I am a bad man”.
At Southampton Crown Court, where Digwa was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 21 years after being found guilty of murdering the finance student, Judge WIlliam Mousley KC said: “You have brought shame upon your family, your community and your religion.”
The case has stirred up racial tension – and outside the court, Mr Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak called on the government to treat knife crime as a “national emergency it is”.
What happened in the case?
Mr Nowak was walking home from a night out with his football team when he met Digwa in Belmont Road in Southampton on 3 December last year.
The student was sending Snapchat videos to his friends when, the court heard, he encountered Digwa carrying a large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing.
On video taken by Henry, Digwa can be heard saying “I am a bad man” before the footage cuts off.
Henry was then fatally stabbed, before, the court heard, trying to climb over a fence to escape and leaving a blood trail on the street.
When police arrived at the scene, officers handcuffed Mr Nowak after Digwa told them he had been the victim of a racist attack by Mr Nowak, despite the student telling them he had been stabbed.
Giving evidence in court, Digwa claimed he had been racially abused and attacked, and had stabbed Mr Nowak to the back of his legs in self-defence before unintentionally causing a fatal stab wound to the chest. But a jury found him guilty of murder.
What does the bodycam footage show?
Bodycam footage shows a police officer arriving at the scene, and then asking: “What’s your name, mate?” before Mr Nowak, who is lying on his back on the ground, faintly replies: “Henry.”
Digwa is then seen stepping into the frame claiming Mr Nowak had taken his turban off and grabbed him by the hair.
The officer asked Digwa: “Are you injured?” to which Digwa replied: “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a swollen eye here, a little bruise here.”
Officers then turned to Mr Nowak who can be heard grunting and repeating “I’ve been stabbed” and then “I can’t breathe” while he is made to sit up to be handcuffed.
The officer can be heard asking: “You’ve been stabbed, whereabouts?” before adding: “Don’t think you have, mate.”
While being handcuffed, Mr Nowak said “I can’t breathe” another three times.
The officer can be heard saying: “He says he’s been stabbed, so let’s just check him” and appears to briefly lift his shirt around the belt area before Mr Nowak is left to lie on his side.
A female officer can then be heard asking: “Where do you think he’s been stabbed? In the face?” to which a male voice replied: “He hasn’t been stabbed.”
Mr Nowak, who seems unresponsive, is then told he is being arrested for assault. “He’s going to be sick, I think,” the officer said.
What have the police said?
Following the case, a senior police officer at Hampshire Police apologised on behalf of his officers who handcuffed Mr Nowak. The actions of the officers are now under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France said his officers were “lied to” and would have been unaware of Mr Nowak’s injury, which he said would not have been obvious.
He said: “This is an absolutely tragic case and my sympathies are absolutely with Henry’s family, his friends and his loved ones. I want to apologise, I want to say that I am sorry that Henry couldn’t be saved at that night. I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness.
“It’s quite clear that officers didn’t understand what had happened immediately and that is some of the context I would ask people to understand. There had been a delay from those who chose eventually to call them.
“There were lies, lies from Henry’s killer in that 999 phone call, further lies from his killer as officers arrived on scene. Despite Henry telling officers he had been stabbed, it took them some minutes to realise what had really happened.
“But within three minutes of that engagement with Henry, they were giving him first aid. They had taken the handcuffs off and they were giving them first aid.”
What have the family of Mr Nowak said?
Mr Nowak’s family have hit out at the “shocking” treatment of their son by police and called for urgent action to address a “national emergency” of knife crime – but have also called for his death not to be used to create futher vision, hatred or tension.
The family also said people should not be able to be in public carrying a 21cm blade.
Speaking on the steps outside the court, Mark Nowak said: “We are calling on the government to treat knife crime as the national emergency it is. We need real solutions. We need investment in prevention. We need stronger action on the sale, ownership and carrying of all knives.
“And, as this case so painfully demonstrates, we need common sense applied to our laws. 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.”
What has the political reaction been?
On Monday night, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer responded to the case, saying it was “is right” that the IOPC was investigating officers’ response to the stabbing.
On social media, he said: “This an awful, shocking case. Henry’s loved ones have gone through the trauma of a long trial and endured Henry’s killer making up appalling claims about their son who was thoughtful, kind and deeply loved.
“It is right that the IOPC is investigating the police’s response to his senseless murder. And we must end the cycle of tragedy by tackling the horror of knife crime.”
On Tuesday morning, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he would be writing to the Attorney General to ask for a longer sentence for Digwa, and said the public should respond with “pure cold rage” to the police treatment of Mr Nowak.
He said: “Henry’s family have responded to this in just the most extraordinarily dignified way. But I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure cold rage. This is wrong. All the values and standards of living in a free country where everybody is judged equally before the law have been trashed and thrown away.”
What has the Sikh community response been?
Following the case, the Sikh Federation UK has said case “was not about Sikhism or racism, but about the unlawful killing of Henry Nowak”.
The organisation also said it would be raising awareness of the law and guidance around the carrying of kirpan ceremonial knives.
It said: “Now the trial is over we want to make absolutely clear the law only provides fully practising Sikhs with a defence under the law to wear a kirpan for religious reasons.
“If a kirpan or a bladed item is used aggressively in an act of violence the defence under the law for a kirpan does not apply and it is deemed an offensive weapon.
