Keir Starmer: “Henry Nowak was kind, thoughtful and much-loved. His life was stolen from him, leaving his family and loved ones devastated. 

“The bodycam footage is harrowing. It’s absolutely right that the IOPC is looking at this. There are serious questions for the police to answer.” Starmer stated.

On 3 December 2025, Henry Nowak, a white 18‑year‑old British university student, was murdered by Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old British Sikh man, in Southampton, England.

The 23-year-old stabbed Nowak five times with a Sikh dagger, including a fatal wound to the heart. When police officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary arrived, Digwa falsely accused Nowak of assault, and officers handcuffed Nowak.

Police body‑worn camera shows that Nowak repeatedly told the police officers, “I can’t breathe,” and that he had been stabbed, as the police handcuffed him.

 Nowak pleaded for help from the police for several minutes before he died shortly after being handcuffed.

Digwa falsely stated he acted in self-defence after Nowak pursued him, apparently made racist remarks, and punched him, for which there is no evidence, leading the court to conclude that the allegations were entirely fabricated in an attempt to justify Digwa’s stabbing.

The jury convicted Digwa of murder on 28 May 2026. Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was found guilty of assisting an offender by hiding the murder weapon.

The judge rejected Digwa’s accusations that Nowak had physically or racially abused him. He received a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years.

The police response to the crime was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.