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People protesting outside Southampton police station in the UK Alamy Stock Photo
Henry Nowak
Police in the UK pelted with projectiles at rally over college student's murder
The murder and the conduct of the police have inflamed tensions between ethnic communities in Britain.
LAST UPDATE | 2 Jun
POLICE OFFICERS IN the United Kingdom have been pelted with missiles close to where a college student was stabbed to death.
Following the protest outside Southampton Central Police station, a large group walked across town to the area of St Denys, close to where the murder took place.
Chairs, cans and flares were thrown at police in riot gear, eventually forcing officers and three police vans back from the line they had been holding.
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemned the clashed with police as “disgraceful violence”.
“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,” Mahmood wrote on X.
Henry Nowak (18), who was stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa last December, died after being arrested and handcuffed by police.
Digwa had lied to police and told them he had been the victim of a racist attack.
In bodycam footage released last night, Henry Nowak could be heard telling the police: “I can’t breathe.”
When he told the police he had been stabbed, the officer replied: “I don’t think you have, mate.”
It emerged today that an investigation into the police officers’ conduct has been launched.
The murder, for which Digwa was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison, and the conduct of the police have inflamed tensions between ethnic communities in Britain.
Far-right politicians like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have sought to use the case to claim that it shows the country has a “two-tier” system that discriminates against white people.
Farage called for people to respond with “pure, cold rage”.
Mahmood said in parliament today that the bodycam footage was “disturbing and tragic”, but in response to the allegation of a “two-tier” policing system, she stressed that “everyone in this country is equal before the law”.
She also said there has been “a dangerous undercurrent” in the reaction to the killing.
“Misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse,” she said.
She said a police officer, unrelated to this case, “has been misidentified online and subjected to death threats” and that he “has been forced to relocate, to protect himself and his family”.
With reporting from Press Association
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