LIVE: Home Secretary to address MPs on Henry Nowak murder

The police handling of Henry Nowak’s murder has sparked outrage across Britain.

Jailed murderer Vickrum Digwa tricked bungling police officers into arresting his dying victim by accusing him of a racist attack – with his harrowing final moments captured on bodycam footage released last night.

Hampshire Police was forced to apologise to Mr Nowak’s family for the blunder and the conduct of the arresting officers is being examined by the police watchdog.

Here, the Daily Mail’s Jon Brady explains the questions facing police:

Shabana Mahmood has said police must find the truth about what happened to Henry Nowak on the night he was killed by Vickrum Digwa.

The 18-year-old student was handcuffed as he lay dying after being stabbed by a Digwa in Southampton city centre in December last year.

A police watchdog probe into how officers responded will report back within the next three months.

by Elizabeth Haigh, Senior News Reporter

A police officer has received death threats and has been ‘forced to relocate’ after being wrongly identified online as being involved in the Henry Nowak murder case, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said.

The officer has had to relocate for the safety and security of his family, the Home Secretary told the House of Commons this afternoon.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, was yesterday jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for stabbing Mr Nowak, 18, six times with a religious blade he was carrying in Southampton.

At the scene, Digwa lied to police and told them Mr Nowak had racially abused him and knocked off his turban.

The teenager was then placed in handcuffs as he lay dying and pleading with officers, telling them ‘I can’t breathe’ and ‘I’ve been stabbed’.

Vickrum Digwa, his brother and father have appeared in court charged with multiple weapons offences.

The 23-year-old (pictured), who was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 21 years for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton, appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court to face six counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a private place.

The alleged weapons are a flick knife, an extendable baton, knuckledusters, a machete, swords and kusaris.

Vickrum appeared in the dock, accompanied by two security officers, wearing a dark suit, blue tie and blue turban.

His father, Moga Singh, 52, and his brother, Gurpreet Digwa (pictured above), 27; both of St Denys Road, Southampton, Hampshire, who are on bail, appeared alongside him to face the same charges while Gurpreet faced four additional charges.

They are possessing an offensive weapon, an asp, in a public place, possessing a prohibited weapon, an air rifle, possessing an axe in a public place and possessing a knife, a kirpan, in a public place.

All of the offences are dated December 4 2025 – the day after the incident in which Mr Nowak was killed.

Jennifer Pitt, chair of the magistrates, adjourned the proceedings until a further hearing on July 9 and released Moga Singh and Gurpreet Digwa on unconditional bail until then and Vickrum on technical bail as he is serving a jail sentence.

Reform leader Nigel Farage has confirmed he has written to Attorney General Lord Hermer to refer the sentence of Vickrum Digwa.

Digwa, 23, was yesterday jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for stabbing Mr Nowak, 18, six times with a religious blade he was carrying in Southampton.

Mr Farage has claimed Digwa should have been handed a whole-life tariff.

Before Ms Mahmood spoke in the Commons, Downing Street said there is ‘no such thing as two-tier policing’ and that officers must treat everyone equally.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

I think the Prime Minister is of the view that many police officers across this country do a fantastic job protecting people day in, day out.

Of course, it’s right that the police should be a meritocratic organisation, and as I’ve just said, it’s absolutely right that they should police without fear or favour.

There is no such thing as two-tier policing. We expect high standards from police officers, high standards of conduct, and they must treat everyone equally.

by Jack Hardy, News Reporter

A Sikh killer who murdered a student with a ceremonial knife was reported to police for stealing religious weapons two years earlier, but officers did not arrest him, the Mail can reveal.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed yesterday for stabbing stranger Henry Nowak, 18, with an eight-inch Sikh dagger he had been carrying in Southampton city centre last December.

He then tricked bungling police officers into arresting his dying victim by accusing him of a racist attack – with his harrowing final moments captured on bodycam footage released last night.

Mr Nowak’s father Mark accused officers of affording the killer ‘decency’ while the way they treated his son was ‘inhumane and degrading’.

The newly released footage showed the teenager desperately telling officers four times, ‘I’ve been stabbed’, to which one policeman replied: ‘I don’t think you have mate’.

Hampshire Police was forced to apologise to Mr Nowak’s family for the blunder and the conduct of the arresting officers is being examined by the police watchdog.

Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has accused Reform UK and Restore Britain of politicising pain and using the Sikh community as a ‘scapegoat’.

The MP for Slough said he was ‘deeply saddened by the murder of Henry Nowak’.

He continued:

What’s very galling is that the likes of Reform, Restore, and the far-right decided to politicise people’s pain, attacking the Sikh community for wearing the kirpan and wanting it banned, even though the kirpan was not used in this violent attack.

And they’ve decided to scapegoat and throw under the bus an entire community based on the actions of one violent murderer.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) is planning to report on the police handling of Henry Nowak’s murder in the next three months, Shabana Mahmood has said.

In her response to Southampton Itchen MP Darren Paffey in the House of Commons, the Home Secretary said:

The IOPC will and do have the resources that they need in order to conduct their investigation and I know that they will do so with the full independence that is afforded to them in our system.

I understand that they intend to report finally within the next three months, and I do believe that a meeting is now taking place with the family.

The Home Secretary has hit back at Robert Jenrick after the Reform MP called on her to say white lives matter ‘just as much as anyone else’ following Henry’s murder.

Addressing the Commons, Mr Jenrick said the police officer who handcuffed Henry should be prosecuted for what he described as a ‘total dereliction of duty’.

He went on to question whether police officers have been taught to elevate the perceptions of ethnic minority communities over the safety of white people.

In response, Ms Mahmood said it wasn’t the moment to ‘pit white Britons against non-white Britons’.