- Newly released police body-camera footage shows officers initially dismissing fatally stabbed student Henry Nowak’s injuries after his attacker falsely claimed racial abuse.
- The case has reignited debate over whether anti-racism policies in U.K. policing have created bias against white victims.
- Protests in Southampton turned violent, injuring police officers, as political leaders including Nigel Farage and Prime Minister Keir Starmer clashed over the response to Nowak’s death and the ensuing unrest.
The treatment of a fatally stabbed British university student has catalyzed widespread civil unrest through the United Kingdom, after police body camera footage was released on Monday.
Police who arrived on scene in Henry Nowak’s last moments of life were convinced by his killer that Nowak had harassed him with racist remarks.
His death has revitalized debate in the U.K. as to whether anti-racism efforts in policing have swung too far, creating an unconscious bias against white people.
What happened to Henry Nowak?
On Dec. 3, 2025, Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old studying accounting at the University of Southampton, was walking home to university housing when he encountered Vickrum Digwa, then 22, by chance.
Digwa was carrying two ceremonial Sikh daggers. As revealed in the murder trial that concluded last Thursday, Digwa’s claims that Nowak racially abused him were lies.
What is known about their interaction comes from several videos. Nowak filmed Digwa on the street and asked if he was a “bad man.” Digwa responded, as recorded in the video, that he was a “bad man,” then seized Nowak’s phone. An altercation ensued that was not captured on video.
On the street, Digwa stabbed Nowak in the chest, puncturing a lung and cutting an important vein behind the collar bone. He then stabbed Nowak twice in the upper leg and once in the lower abdomen. His face also bore signs of knife injury.
“Henry was never able to put up his hands to defend himself from further serious injury. He was defenseless,” British Judge Bill Mousley said during Digwa’s sentencing.
Digwa’s brother arrived on scene very shortly after Nowak was stabbed. Digwa then filmed Nowak trying to escape. The 18-year-old scaled a fence, then landed on a car in front of the next-door property. Digwa continued to film Nowak.
When police arrived on scene, Digwa’s brother told them that no weapons were involved or present. Meanwhile, Digwa told his mother to take the murder weapon, sheath and belt, and she did, according to court records.
Digwa’s mother, brother and father were later arrested. His brother and father have ben released but his mother is still being held.
The police officer’s body camera footage, which has now been viewed more than 16 million times on X, shows Nowak on the ground. Laying on his stomach, Nowak told the officers he’d been stabbed, to which the officer responded, “I don’t think you have mate.” Nowak was put in handcuffs.
After Nowak lost consciousness, the officers began to perform CPR.
Digwa kept Nowak’s phone and did not voluntarily give it up. Police discovered it on him after he’d been arrested and taken into custody.
The judge sentenced Digwa to life in prison for murder, with a minimum of 21 years.
Southampton erupts in protests
On Tuesday, Member of Parliament and leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage released a video asking Brits to respond to Nowak’s death with anger.
The fear of being described as racist “is now greater than dealing with a dying man living on the ground,” he said. “Henry’s family has responded to this in just the most extraordinarily dignified way. But I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure, cold rage.”
Later that day, Tommy Robinson, an anti-immigration activist, spoke at a protest in Southampton.
“What the whole world is now seeing in Henry’s video is what we all know anyway. It’s that there’s different treatment for white people compared to non-whites,” he said.
Robinson called for the arrest of Digwa’s brother, for the Digwa family to be removed from the city and for the officers involved in the incident to be prosecuted.
Protesters gathered outside Southampton police station on Tuesday and chanted, “I can’t breathe.” Video footage also shows protesters throwing garbage bins and bricks at officers.
The New York Times reports that eleven police officers have been wounded in the unrest.
On Wednesday, Farage made another statement, calling for an end to the unrest. “Division will get worse” if young white men feel their institutions are prejudiced against them, he said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls Farage’s message ‘unforgivable’
Speaking from Parliament in Westminster, London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there were “serious questions to answer, including how accusations of racism informed police thinking.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct will look into the incident, he said.
Starmer then condemned Farage’s message, calling it “unforgivable.”
“No matter the pain we feel, there is no justification for violence and disorder. The attacks directed toward police officers in Southampton last night were disgraceful and completely unacceptable. This is a time for serious work, not rage,” Starmer said.
“Let me be clear, anyone found engaging in disorder will meet the full force of the law, as we have done before,” he said.
