Vickrum Digwa, 23, sentenced Monday to life in prison for the murder of Henry Nowak, 18, lied to the police at the time of the incident, leading to the arrest of his dying victim.
“I can’t breathe” : the British police were the target of strong criticism on Tuesday, in particular from the far right, after the broadcast of a video showing agents handcuffing a dying student last December, wrongly accused of racist insults by his murderer. Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, was sentenced Monday to life in prison with a 21-year security sentence for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak. The student was stabbed five times while returning from a night out in Southampton, on the south coast of England, on December 3, 2025.
On Tuesday evening, more than a thousand people, including far-right activist Tommy Robinson, gathered outside Southampton police station, shouting “Justice for Henry”and denouncing a police “Two speeds”. A demonstration which quickly degenerated after bottles and trash cans were thrown at the police who were blocking a road, noted AFP journalists.
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A video, released by the police Monday evening after the conviction of Vickrum Digwa and showing the intervention of the police during the incident, aroused strong emotion: we see the student lying on the ground when the agents arrived, saying several times in a weak voice: “I can’t breathe” et “I’ve been poignardé”.
The murderer lied to the police by declaring that he had been the victim of a racist attack, and that he had acted in self-defense after insults and blows. The video shows the police speaking with Vickrum Digwa before handcuffing Henry Nowak and telling him that he is under arrest, even though he no longer reacts. The images, shown to jurors during the trial, were released by Hampshire Police after “Henry’s family consultation”. This police intervention is the subject of an investigation by the police (IOPC), the report of which must be published within three months.
The police will have to answer “serious questions”
Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the footage as«atroces»saying he had «the nausea watching them». The police will have to respond to “serious questions”he estimated. Student’s father calls on IOPC to investigate “complete, courageous and transparent”believing that his son had been treated by the police in a manner “inhumane and degrading”. Vickrum Digwa briefly appeared in a Southampton court on Tuesday, with his father and brother, to answer several charges relating to the possession of weapons – including a machete and swords – discovered by police the day after the murder.
“We live in a two-speed country, where the rights and privileges of white people count less than those of ethnic minorities.”denounced the leader of the anti-immigration party Nigel Farage on Tuesday, two weeks before a by-election in England where his party, Reform UK, hopes to see its candidate win over that of the Labor Party. He pointed out that the words spoken by Henry Nowak (“I can’t breathe”) were the same as those of George Floyd, an African-American killed by a white police officer in 2020 in the United States.
At rally outside Southampton police station, Tommy Robinson accused police of treating white people “like second-class citizens”. One protester, Lesley, 58, explained to AFP that she had come after seeing the video: “Someone should have comforted (Henry Nowak) in his final moments, not put their hands behind his back, as if he had committed a crime.”she is indignant.
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Elon Musk ready to finance legal action
Kate Phillips, a 63-year-old resident who attended the sentencing at Vickrum Digwa court, said “Racism works both ways and this case shows it”while specifying that he has no animosity towards the Sikh community. The police intervention also sparked criticism from American billionaire Elon Musk, who said he was ready to finance legal action against the Hampshire police.
She apologized on Friday, saying she had been «trompée» by the lies of Vickrum Digwa. In a press release published Tuesday on X, the police denounced a significant «flot de désinformation» online and «menaces» targeting agents. The murderer’s family apologized Tuesday to the family of Henry Nowak, as well as to the Sikh community for “unfairly damaged (his) reputation”.
Vickrum Digwa attacked Henry Nowak with a knife measuring around twenty centimeters, which he said he carried as part of his faith. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood declared in Parliament that this murder should not “pitting communities against each other”dénonçant “those who seek personal political gain from a tragedy”.
