- 18-year-old Henry Nowak died on December 3, 2025 in Southampton after Vickrum Digwa (23) stabbed him with a knife.
- The police believed the attacker Digwa, who posed as the victim, and handcuffed the injured Nowak.
- The father of the deceased calls the unequal treatment of perpetrator and victim “unbearable”.
A murder case in the south of England is currently causing concern massive criticism of the police’s actions. She is said to have believed the actual attacker and put the seriously injured victim in handcuffs, whereupon 18-year-old Henry Nowak died at the scene. Newly released bodycam footage police officers involved have fueled criticism again, as the BBC reports.
The incident occurred on December 3, 2025 on a street in Southampton: Nowak got into a fight with a 23-year-old named Vickrum Digwa. When the police arrived, he initially said that Nowak had torn off his turban and grabbed him by his hair. Digwa, who was born in Great Britain, also reported to the officers that he had suffered an eye injury.
Injured Nowak pleaded for help
As the recordings show, Nowak, lying on the ground, then tells the police in a weak voice that he had suffered stab wounds. “I can’t breathe,” said the 18-year-old as the police pulled him up from the ground to handcuff him. He repeats the sentence again and again while the police officers discuss whether Nowak actually has stab wounds. “I don’t think you were (stabbed), colleague,” one of the police officers says in the recordings.
“Don’t think you were stung, colleague.”
This incorrect assessment by the police had serious consequences: just minutes after the officers arrived at the scene, they began resuscitating the seriously injured 18-year-old. It was unsuccessful; Henry Nowak died at the place where Digwa had inflicted the stab wounds. The murder weapon was a traditional Sikh knife with a huge blade, which the 23-year-old hid with his mother after the murder.
This is how politicians react to the case:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the case as “terrible and shocking”. After viewing the bodycam footage, he spoke of shocking images. As the father of a 17-year-old, watching it made him sick. He welcomed the investigation by the police supervisory authority IOPC and demanded answers – including the question of what role accusations of racism played.
Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced that the investigation would be completed within three months. At the same time, she warned against using the case to further divide. The victim’s father also called for people not to further inflame hatred and tensions. The right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, on the other hand, has already mobilized for protests.
This is what the families of the victim and perpetrator say
While the police initially mistook the attacker as a victim, Digwa has since been convicted by a criminal court. For the murder he received a life sentence, of which he must serve at least 21 years. The 23-year-old’s family is dismayed: “We deeply regret the pain and suffering that was caused to Nowak’s family and wish that the two of them had never crossed paths that night,” it said in a statement.
It’s little consolation for the family of the 18-year-old who was killed. She is particularly shocked by the unequal treatment by the police: the way the officers treated Nowak was inhumane and degrading. “Henry told officers nine times that he couldn’t breathe and told them he had been stabbed four times. “Henry was dragged across the gravel, his hands were pressed behind his back and he was handcuffed,” his father told the BBC. He calls the different ways in which his son and Digwa were treated “unbearable”.
Police: Nowak could not have been saved
The Independent Authority for Police Conduct (IOPC) said an investigation into the police’s actions is currently underway. The Hampshire police continue to say that they deeply regret the incident – at the same time, those responsible reject claims that Nowak could possibly have been saved: The pathological examination of the body showed that the stab wounds were so deep that there was no hope for the 18-year-old anyway.
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Benedikt Hollenstein (bho) has been at 20 minutes since 2021. He writes for the news desk and also takes on day management shifts there.
