Murder victim told police ‘I can’t breathe’ while handcuffed

Just nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleCharlotte ColesSouth of England

Student Henry Nowak who was handcuffed as he lay dying after being stabbed told officers “I can’t breathe”, bodycam footage shows.

The 18-year-old Southampton university student was handcuffed after his killer Vickrum Digwa, 23, lied to police at the scene of the 2025 stabbing claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack.

On Monday, Digwa was jailed for a minimum of 21 years for stabbing Nowak with a 21cm (8in) blade he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith.

Nowak’s family called his treatment by police “inhumane and degrading” and the force has apologised.

Warning: This story contains details some may find upsetting

Nowak’s dad, Mark, said: “Henry told officers that he could not breathe nine times. He told them that he had been stabbed four times. The response from one officer was: “I don’t think you have mate”.”

“Henry was pulled across the gravel, his hands forced behind his back and he was placed in handcuffs.”

The trial heard that Digwa lied to police, falsely claiming he was the victim and alleging he had been subjected to racist abuse.

Bodycam footage released by the force, with the family’s permission, appears to show Nowak, who had received two stab wounds on the back his legs and a fatal wound to his heart, pleading, “I’ve been stabbed” while he is being handcuffed.

In the footage a police officer arriving at the scene can be heard asking: “What’s your name, mate?” before Mr Nowak, who is lying on his back on the ground, faintly replies: “Henry.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said an investigation into the police force’s actions was ongoing.

The attorney general’s office is considering the jail sentence given to Digwa after receiving “multiple requests” to review it under the unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme.

Digwa then steps into the frame claiming Mr Nowak had taken his turban off and grabbed him by the hair.

The officer asks Digwa: “Are you injured?” to which Digwa replies: “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got a swollen eye here, a little bruise here.”

Officers then turn to Nowak who can be heard grunting and repeating “I’ve been stabbed” and then “I can’t breathe” while he is made to sit up to be handcuffed.

The officer can be heard asking: “You’ve been stabbed, whereabouts?” before adding: “Don’t think you have, mate.”

While being handcuffed, Nowak says “I can’t breathe” another three times.

The officer can be heard saying: “He says he’s been stabbed, so let’s just check him” and appears to briefly lift his shirt around the belt area before Nowak is left to lie on his side.

A female officer can then be heard asking: “Where do you think he’s been stabbed? In the face?” to which a male voice replies: “He hasn’t been stabbed.”

Nowak, who seems unresponsive, is then told he is being arrested for assault.

Hampshire police’s Deputy Chief Constable Robert France said that within three minutes of interacting with Nowak they were starting to perform CPR.

He added that: “This is a complete tragedy and I am sorry that they couldn’t save Henry that night and I’m sorry that Henry was handcuffed and arrested as he lost consciousness.

“The pathologist who spoke in court was clear there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry.

“His wound was deep and internal, the bleeding extensive but internal.”

Police handout

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said on social media that people should respond with “pure cold rage” to the treatment of Nowak.

In a statement he said that “Henry’s family have responded to this in just the most extraordinarily dignified way”.

Farage claimed Britain has a “two tier culture where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities”.

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

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said it was “an evil murder made so much worse by the police response”.

A spokesman for the attorney general said: “We have received multiple requests for Vickrum Digwa’s sentence to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

“The law officers have 28 days from sentencing to carefully consider the case and make a decision.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones described Novak’s death as a “national tragedy”.

The Conservative politician said she was meeting with Nowak’s family and had written to the prime minster calling for an “urgent review on the carrying of bladed articles for religious and ceremonial purposes”.

The Home Office has been approached for comment and the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to make a statement on the case later.

Sir Keir Starmer commented on the case in a post on X, where he said: “This an awful, shocking case.

“We must end the cycle of tragedy by tackling the horror of knife crime.”

Crown Prosecution Service

Under current legislation, practising Sikh’s have a legal defence for wearing a small, curved blade, known as a Kirpan, close to their body for religious purposes.

While Digwa had been wearing a traditional kirpan under his clothing, the weapon he used on Nowak was much bigger and he had worn it in a sheath on top of his clothes.

When he asked his mother Kiran Kaur to take it away from the murder scene, he described it as a ‘shastar’, which is the punjabi word for weapon.

Kaur is due to be sentencing for assisting an offender later this month.

The Sikh community has strongly condemned the killing and told the BBC worries about Digwa’s behaviour in the past had prompted them to bar him from one of their places of worship in Southampton. And this happened long before he murdered Nowak.

The Sikh Federation said the blade used by Digwa was not a religious knife, known as a kirpan and the Sikh Press Association said that plans are in process to ensure every initiated Sikh in the UK is addressed directly regarding kirpan rules and responsibility.

In a statement Digwa’s family said they were “deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure”.

It continues: “We would give anything to turn back time so the path of both Henry and Vickrum never crossed that night. We cannot change what has happened, we just hope that no further pain is caused in its name.”

The family added that it “apologises to the Sikh community for our son’s actions which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute” and asked that the “tragedy is not used to inflame division or hostility”.

The officers who were called to the murder scene are still being treated as witnesses by watchdog the IOPC.

IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: ” We acknowledge that this case has raised questions about the actions of the attending officers and we are aware that a few minutes of police body-worn footage has been issued by the force following the conclusion of criminal proceedings.

“As part of our ongoing investigation we are reviewing a large amount of police body-worn footage, which we need to consider in context with other evidence we have obtained, including reviewing material presented during the murder trial, as we establish the full circumstances.”

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Hampshire & Isle of WightEssexChafford HundredHampshire and Isle of Wight PoliceSouthampton