The fatally stabbed UK student was treated as the suspect after his murderer misled police
Newly released police footage shows the man convicted of murdering British student Henry Nowak repeatedly telling officers he had been the victim of a racist attack – claims a judge later ruled were entirely false. The recording comes weeks after bodycam video showing police handcuffing the dying 18-year-old sparked nationwide outrage over the officers’ response.
Nowak was stabbed to death in Southampton last December after being confronted by Vickrum Singh Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh from the city. Digwa was convicted of murder last month and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years after the court rejected his account of the attack.
Published by the Crown Prosecution Service for the first time on Friday, the recording captures Digwa giving officers the account he maintained after the stabbing. He is heard repeatedly claiming that he had been “racially attacked,” alleging the student had pulled off his turban while never telling officers he had stabbed him. He continued making those claims as officers arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder. Unlike Nowak, Digwa was not restrained.
The killer of student Henry Nowak was never handcuffed by police, newly released video shows
Elsewhere in the recording, Digwa claimed he had been “literally just walking” when Nowak barged into him. He told officers he could smell alcohol on the student, continuing to portray himself as the victim.
Bodycam footage showed officers handcuffing Nowak, who was lying on the ground and repeatedly telling them he had been stabbed and could not breathe. He was dragged across gravel, placed under arrest for assault, and left in handcuffs as he lost consciousness and drowned in his own blood.
The court heard Digwa stabbed Nowak five times, including a fatal wound to the heart, before hiding the student’s mobile phone in his pocket. Although practicing Sikhs are legally permitted to carry a small ceremonial blade known as a kirpan, prosecutors said the murder weapon was a much larger knife that Digwa carried alongside his kirpan.
Nowak’s father said his son “did not die with dignity” and described the police treatment as “inhumane and degrading.”
The police response to the killing sparked protests and unrest in Southampton, where 25 people were later charged with violent disorder. Hampshire Constabulary is under investigation over officers’ handling of the incident.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the case was “proof, if ever there was any,” that Britain was “living in a two-tier culture” where “the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.”
The killing has reignited debate in Britain over policing, immigration, and violent crime, with critics arguing that police and politicians prioritize policing speech, protests, and “hate incidents” while failing to get dangerous blades and violent offenders off the streets. It has also renewed scrutiny of the country’s long-running knife crime crisis.
Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Nowak’s family at the time for showing “extraordinary dignity” after their son’s life was “stolen in appalling circumstances” and acknowledged there were “serious questions to answer.” However, he condemned the unrest as “disgraceful and completely unacceptable.”
