Henry Nowak’s family say police misled them over response to fatal stabbing

The family of Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old student arrested while asking for help after being stabbed, have accused authorities of giving them misleading accounts of his final moments. Speaking to ITV News, his relatives said they feared decisions had been taken to protect the police’s reputation rather than support them after his murder.

Nowak was walking home after a night out in Southampton in December 2025 when Vickrum Digwa stabbed him. Digwa, who was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment, falsely accused the teenager of racial abuse. Officers handcuffed Nowak as he was bleeding to death. Bodyworn camera footage later provoked public outrage, showing him repeatedly telling police he had been stabbed and an officer responding: “Don’t think you have, mate.”

His father, Mark Nowak, said the family were initially told that officers had immediately provided first aid. The account then changed, he said, first to officers having detained everyone, then to only Henry being detained, before the family learned he had been handcuffed and arrested. His parents also said police had wrongly portrayed their son as the aggressor. Mark told ITV News: “We felt we were being not told the truth.”

Henry’s stepmother, Katie Nowak, said the family had experienced repeated failures and feared they had been manipulated at their most vulnerable. She questioned whether some decisions had been intended to safeguard the police and their reputation instead of helping the family. His mother, Lucy Ross, said Henry had told officers nine times that he could not breathe and had been stabbed. She questioned why his pleas were dismissed and why he was handcuffed when he needed help.

The family also challenged the initial response of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. They said the watchdog told them in April that no Hampshire officers would face a conduct or criminal investigation because no concerns about their actions had been identified. Less than two months afterwards, Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary was forced to apologise for its actions.

Chief constable Alexis Boon apologised to the family in comments to ITV News, acknowledging that officers had failed Henry when he most needed them. He also recognised that the family’s concerns extended beyond the night of the killing to their treatment during the investigation and afterwards.

The IOPC is now investigating, while home secretary Shabana Mahmood has launched a review into whether opportunities to prevent the murder were missed. Derrick Campbell, the watchdog’s director of engagement, told ITV News that its work would establish the full circumstances, consider whether officers should face disciplinary proceedings and seek answers to the family’s questions about Henry’s treatment.