The bodycam footage showing UK police handcuffing a dying teenager after he was stabbed by a British Sikh man — who falsely alleged at the scene that he was the victim of a racist attack — has sparked outrage across the United Kingdom over policing lapses, race and knife crime.
The now-viral video shows 18-year-old student, Henry Nowak, repeatedly telling officers, “I can’t breathe”, as he lay mortally wounded on a pavement in Southampton, a coastal city in southern England.
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Nowak, a Southampton University student, died shortly after being handcuffed by police last December. Once they realised he was injured, they uncuffed him and started CPR.
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The footage was released by police with the consent of Nowak’s family after his killer Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
What the bodycam footage showed
When the police arrived, Digwa said his turban had been knocked off and he had an injury to his eye.
In police bodycam footage, Nowak is seen lying on the street saying “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe” while an officer responds: “You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts?”
“I don’t think you have, mate”, the officer is heard saying.
Court rejects racism claim
According to a PTI report, the judge while sentencing the British Sikh man to life imprisonment noted that the case had “stirred up racial tension” across the UK.
At a hearing at Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley ruled that Vickrum Digwa must serve a minimum term of 21 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
Alluding to the debate the case had triggered around the kirpan, the judge referenced the “fundamental principle” of Sikhism that such an item should “never be carried for an offensive purpose”.
“You have brought shame upon your family and your religion,” court reports quoted the judge as saying.
“Your actions have stirred up racial tension in Southampton and across the country which have made many Sikhs worried about their safety,” he said.
In his defence, Digwa had claimed being racially threatened by Nowak, which led Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary officers to initially handcuff the victim when they first arrived at the scene of the crime in December last year.
“I am sure that Henry said nothing racist. You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character,” the judge stated.
Family blames police response
According to court reports from Southampton, there was an altercation in court between members of the family on both sides requiring police intervention.
“Instead of being treated as a dying victim, police formally arrested Henry for assault and read him his rights. That was the last thing he heard,” the victim’s father, Mark Nowak, told reporters outside the court following the verdict.
“Let us be clear. We hold Vickrum Digwa solely responsible for the brutal murder of our son. But Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody,” he said.
The police force has since issued a formal apology and is now facing an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.
Sikh groups react over kirpan references
The murder trial, which concluded with the jury’s guilty verdict last week, led many British Sikh groups to appeal against the kirpan being “unfairly” targeted.
Sikh Federation UK issued a statement on Monday to say that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should have made clear during the trial that the weapon used by Digwa was not a kirpan.
“The murder weapon is of Persian origin and known by an entirely different name. It is not a Sikh ceremonial knife, as many like Reform continue to describe,” reads a statement. The City Sikhs Foundation had also appealed against the unfair targeting of an entire community for the actions of a “single criminal individual”.