Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Body camera footage of a dying student who was handcuffed by British police after being stabbed by a Sikh man and falsely accused of racially abusing his murderer sparked outrage on Tuesday, with angry protesters throwing projectiles at police in the city where the crime took place.
Issued on: 02/06/2026 - 21:00Modified: 02/06/2026 - 21:51
4 min Reading time
Bodycam video released by Hampshire police showed Henry Nowak being handcuffed before his death © - / Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary/AFP
Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak was heard repeatedly telling police "I can't breathe" in police bodycam footage captured as he lay mortally wounded in December after a night out with his football team members.Far-right figures have seized on the case and firebrand Tommy Robinson spoke at a rally in the southern city of Southampton where the murder took place, claiming police treat white British people as "second-rate citizens".Protesters then marched through the city centre towards the scene of the crime and attacked police blocking the road with stones, bottles and bins.A judge on Monday jailed the killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, for at least 21 years for stabbing Nowak to death with a ceremonial knife with a 21-centimetre (eight-inch) blade.When police arrived at the scene, Digwa lied to officers, telling them Nowak had racially insulted him and that he was the victim.The footage, which was played during Digwa's trial, shows police accepting the aggressor's accusation, and rather than helping Nowak, initially handcuffing him despite his pleas that he had been stabbed and could not breathe.One officer can be heard asking Nowak: "You've been stabbed, whereabouts?" before adding: "Don't think you have, mate."Moments later the student collapsed and became unconscious.
