Public Outrage Over Police Response as Bodycam Footage Shows Stabbing Victim Handcuffed While Dying
Disturbing bodycam footage released by Hampshire Police showing officers arresting and handcuffing 18-year-old finance student Henry Nowak as he lay dying from a fatal stab wound to the heart, repeatedly pleading that he could not breathe, has sparked national fury.
The University of Southampton student was attacked on Belmont Road in Southampton on December 3rd, 2025. His killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, was jailed for life on Monday and ordered to serve a minimum of 21 years.
The newly released footage reveals how Digwa successfully deceived the arriving emergency responders by fabricating a story that he was the actual victim of a violent, drunken racist assault, claiming Nowak had pulled off his turban and grabbed his hair.
As officers focused on Digwa's minor facial bruises, Nowak can be heard grunting on the gravel, gasping "I've been stabbed" and "I can't breathe."
In the video, an officer dismisses the dying student's pleas, saying, "I don't think you have, mate."
Nowak repeated that he couldn't breathe nine times. Instead of receiving immediate medical care, the unresponsive teenager was forced up, handcuffed with his arms behind his back, and told he was under arrest for assault. One officer can be heard explicitly telling their colleagues, "He hasn't been stabbed." Within three minutes of this interaction, Nowak lost consciousness, at which point officers removed the cuffs and began performing CPR. He could not be saved.
Speaking outside Southampton Crown Court, Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, expressed intense grief over the stark contrast in how the two men were treated by the authorities that night.
"Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him," Mark Nowak said. "Let me be absolutely clear – we hold Vickrum Digwa solely and 100% responsible for the brutal murder of our son. But Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody. The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading."
He further noted that Digwa was never handcuffed, was transported with decency, and was even taken to the station kitchen to select his own food while under arrest for murder. "The contrast is unbearable," he added.
Hampshire Police have since issued an official apology for arresting and handcuffing the teenager. Deputy Chief Constable Robert France explained that the fatal wound from the 21cm blade was deep and internal, meaning the extensive bleeding was hidden. He noted that a pathologist testified in court that nothing the officers did at the scene could have ultimately saved Henry's life.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is actively investigating the force's actions, and the attending officers are currently being treated as witnesses.
The court heard that Digwa was a man with a severe "weapons obsession" who trained with them, slept in a room filled with them, and filmed videos of Nowak fleeing and dying. While baptized Sikhs have a legal right in the UK to carry a small ceremonial dagger known as a kirpan close to their body, the weapon Digwa used was a massive blade worn prominently on top of his clothes.
The local and national Sikh communities have condemned the murder, clarifying that the weapon used was not a traditional kirpan and that Digwa had actually been banned from a local place of worship long before the attack due to his past behavior.
In a statement, Digwa's family offered their condolences to the Nowaks and apologized to their own community:
"We love Vickrum. We will continue to love him. That love does not stand in opposition to the sorrow we feel for the Nowak family. We apologise to the Sikh community for our son’s actions which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute. We ask that this tragedy is not used by anyone to inflame division or hostility towards any community."
The incident has triggered intense political debate. Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones labeled the event a "national tragedy" and confirmed she has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanding an urgent national review of the laws that permit religious exemptions for carrying bladed articles in public.
However, Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds stated that the government does not plan to review the broader religious exception, pointing out that the judge made it clear that the moment Digwa drew the weapon from its sheath, "you can forget any sense of there being some sort of exception to the law."
The Attorney General's office confirmed it has received "multiple requests" to review Digwa's 21-year minimum sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, will face sentencing later this month after being found guilty of assisting an offender by attempting to hide the weapon.
