News Story

Sir Keir Starmer said the police watchdog’s investigation into how officers handled the case of murder victim Henry Nowak amid outrage over his treatment must “be carried out as quickly as possible and answers delivered”.

The 18-year-old student was handcuffed as he lay dying after being fatally stabbed by a Sikh man.

The killer of finance student Mr Nowak, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, told police attending the scene of the stabbing in Southampton on December 3, 2025 that he had been the victim of a racist attack.

Body-worn camera footage from the incident appeared to show Mr Nowak, who had received two stab wounds on the back his legs and a fatal wound to his heart, pleading, “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe” while being handcuffed.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said investigators, who will meet Mr Nowak’s family, are examining a large amount of body-worn video as well as material presented during Digwa’s trial.

The Prime Minister, who is understood to have seen the footage of the “awful, shocking” incident a number of times, told his Cabinet it is “right” the IOPC is examining officers’ actions.

Sir Keir’s official spokesman said the Prime Minister paid tribute to “kind, thoughtful and much-loved” Mr Nowak, whose life was “ripped away in the most appalling circumstances”.

The spokesman added: “The Prime Minister said that in his last harrowing moments, Henry was then handcuffed by the police as he lay dying on the floor.

“The Prime Minister said it was right that the IOPC was investigating the police response, which he said needed to be carried out as quickly as possible and answers delivered, and said the thoughts of the whole Cabinet were with Henry’s family today.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will address the case in a Commons statement later on Tuesday.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said people should respond with “pure cold rage” to Mr Nowak’s treatment, which he said was evidence of a “two-tier culture”.

Mr Nowak was “actually treated in a way that meant an accusation of a racial slur was treated more seriously than an act of murder”, he said in a video statement.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of deepening divisions as she argued that police should treat everyone equally regardless of race.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain there should be “no two-tier policing, no believing that racism only happens to ethnic minorities”.

She added: “It happens to everyone. And the police need to be trained like that, not with the terrible anti-racism training, which is just reverse racism and reverse discrimination.”

Asked whether the police should be trained differently, Sir Keir’s spokesman told reporters he would not “prejudge” the IOPC’s finding, adding: “We’re categorical that the police must treat everyone equally.”

The attorney general’s office is considering the jail sentence given to Digwa after being urged to review it.