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Really? You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Floral tributes for Henry Nowak are pictured outside of Portswood Police Station in Southampton, southern England, on June 3, 2026. Photo by BEN STANSALL /AFP via Getty ImagesThe Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has contributed a horrifying new classic to the “harrowing police video” genre: Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991; Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport in 2007; Eric Garner in New York City in 2014; George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020; and now Henry Nowak in Southampton, on England’s south coast.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorOn Dec. 3 last year, Nowak, an 18-year-old studying finance and accountancy at the University of Southampton, was randomly set upon by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, who stabbed him five times with a kirpan — the Sikh ceremonial dagger — with a 53-centimetre blade, BBC reports.(By way of comparison, Transport Canada allows kirpans on domestic flights with blades up to six centimetres. The Peel District School Board imposes a maximum length for students of 18 centimetres. This was a big knife.)This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againDigwa claimed Nowak had been the aggressor, racially abusing him, punching him and knocking off his turban. All lies.I would urge everyone to watch the bodycam footage released by police, as evidence of just how casually evil state officialdom can be. (Don’t watch it if you’re already having a bad day.)“I’ve been stabbed,” Nowak entreated the officers attending the scene.One officer responded, condescendingly: “You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts? Don’t think you have, mate.”“I can’t breathe,” Nowak pleads at one point.“Put your hand in the cuff,” the male officer responds.These officers accepted Digwa’s account instantly, 100 per cent at face value, and handcuffed a dying man on suspicion of assault. Digwa was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.“The pathologist who spoke in court was clear there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry,” deputy chief constable Robert France very unwisely said as part of an otherwise reasonable apology. In a way, surely, that almost makes it worse that he died in handcuffs.This tragedy is going to leave a huge dent in British politics. The notion of “two-tier policing” was a hot topic beforehand (see the grooming gangs scandal, for example). It’s radioactive now. There have been riots in Southampton, with 11 police officers injured, and video of police battling violently with protesters seems likely to enflame the situation further.Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is well positioned to form a minority government at the next election (although it could be a long time off), and he has been pushing the “two-tier” narrative: The idea that police are, and indeed have been instructed to be, more deferential to non-white Britons than white ones.And all Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the progressive media can really do is accuse Farage of fanning the flames of unrest and trying to curry favour in an upcoming by-election in Wigan, a monolithically white and working-class suburb of Manchester.That’s only a legitimate strategy if people don’t think there should be flames. Starmer himself has said “serious questions to answer” about Nowak’s murder include “how accusations of racism informed police thinking.”At least pending an inquest, which has been announced, it seems far-fetched to think there’s a direct correlation between anti-racism efforts in British policing and this particular event. These officers seem above all to have been completely incompetent and devoid of empathy.Still, those anti-racism efforts have produced some astonishing scenes and statements. “Producing equality of policing outcomes for people from different ethnic groups … does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’ (racial equality),” the National Police Chiefs’ Council avers in its “police anti-racism commitment.”Equal treatment for Britons of all races isn’t even a goal? Really?And that’s where this becomes relevant to Canada, whose governments and even opposition parties rarely dispute the notion of two-tier justice. Those officers treated Henry Nowak much like the Canadian justice system treats many victims of violent crime. We just do it somewhat less spectacularly, generally in courtrooms, and in slow motion.Almost everyone knows it’s ridiculous to treat Indigenous offenders more leniently than non-Indigenous offenders just because they’re Indigenous, even if their victims are also Indigenous … but it’s the almost entirely uncontested law of the land. Almost everyone knows it’s ridiculous to discount criminal sentences because an appropriate one might get the offender deported. We do it anyway, and the victims have to live in fear because of it.National Post reported recently on the case of Mohamed Aziz Ben Ishak, a Tunisian living in Quebec, who savagely attacked his partner for lighting a cigarette before dusk during Ramadan.“Assaults committed by the offender are neither trivial nor minimal, far from it,” Court of Quebec Justice David Simon ruled. “They demonstrate a high degree of violence, manifesting itself repeatedly in various forms: multiple kicks to the body, including to the ribs; snatching (a) telephone from the victim’s hands; punches to the head; and hair-pulling to drag the victim.”Verdict: Conditional discharge, in part because Ishak wasn’t a permanent resident and deportation to Tunisia would be terribly difficult for him.Ishak’s victim is alive to tell the tale, thankfully. But that’s the only thing that makes it any less outrageous.Incidentally, colossal failures aside, the British justice system at least managed to convict Digwa inside of six months. Ishak’s assault case took five years to litigate to its ignominious close.National Post cselley@postmedia.com Get the latest from Chris Selley straight to your inbox Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.