Neville Lawrence spoke out as the Home Secretary promised Henry’s family they will get answers after the teenager bled to death having been cuffed by police as he pleaded for help
Shabana Mahmood has promised Henry Nowak’s family that they will get answers after the teenager was handcuffed as he lay dying.
In an impassioned plea, the Home Secretary called for calm and said the “evil act” must not lead to communities turning against each other.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life on Monday with a minimum term of 21 years for stabbing Henry, 18, six times with a religious blade he was carrying in Southampton.
Now, Neville Lawrence, whose 18-year-old son Stephen was knifed in the heart in 1993, has said: “My thoughts are with Henry Nowak’s family. When my son was killed officers who attended also made incorrect assumptions and it is very tragic to see history repeating itself. Stephen wasn’t seen as a victim, just as Henry wasn’t in this case.”
Hampshire Police has been heavily criticised after officers handcuffed Henry, a finance student, as he bled to death as Digwa watched on. One of the officers involved has resigned, the force today confirmed.
In bodyworn camera footage from the incident, Henry can be heard saying four times: “I’ve been stabbed,” to which an officer replies: “Don’t think you have, mate.”
The officer drags Henry along the ground as he continues to beg for help, telling him he cannot breathe at least seven times before he is cuffed behind his back.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that he “felt sick” watching footage, and that there are “serious questions” to answer about the case. The Prime Minister said there needs to be an examination into how “accusations of racism” informed the police’s decision-making in the case.
Digwa lied to police attending the scene of the stabbing on December 3, 2025, claiming that he had been the victim of a racist attack. The police watchdog is expected to report on the case within the next three months.
A spokesman for the Independent Office for Police Conduct said investigators are examining a large amount of bodyworn video as well as material presented during Digwa’s trial.
Three officers involved in the incident continue on normal duties and none have been referred for a misconduct probe. Watchdog investigators will meet Henry’s family in the coming weeks amid outrage over his treatment.
Ms Mahmood told MPs on Tuesday that a police officer had received death threats after being wrongly identified as having responded to the tragedy.
She promised that the IOPC will have all the resources it needs to probe the way officers responded to the stabbing.
In an update in the Commons, the Home Secretary said: “Let me also be clear about one thing, a dangerous undercurrent that I have seen in the reaction to this awful crime.
“Threats against police officers are utterly unacceptable.
“There can be no justification for intimidation, abuse or attempts to take the law into one’s own hands.
“Misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse. We must all together condemn it, and we must also allow the facts to be established with the appropriate investigations and the courts, and we must do so calmly and responsibly.
“The Novak family and Henry’s memory deserve answers.”
She urged the public not to be influenced by efforts to cause division in the wake of Henry’s death.
It comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was criticised for urging followers to react with “pure cold rage” after claiming a two-tier policing system discriminated against white people.
Ms Mahmood said: “We cannot allow this murder to turn communities against one another. We must condemn those who seek personal, political profit from tragedy.
“Instead, we must show who we really are in this country.
“This was a murder, a vile and violent crime. The punishment must be reserved for those who are responsible for the act.
“We do not believe in collective punishment in this country.”
Mr Farage made the remarks despite Henry’s dad Mark Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, saying on Monday: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.
“We want his story to make our streets safer for everyone. That is why we are calling on the government to treat knife crime as the national emergency that it is.”
John Azah, OBE, a member of the Hate Crime Independent Advisory group, said: “It’s a real shame this murder is being used by politicians and Far Right groups to undermine community cohesion.
“This is a classic case of police officers not having an open mind and failing to deal with the issues in front of them. Instead they appear to have made a judgement before they arrived at the scene. So they assumed they were dealing with a racist abuse case instead of a stabbing.”
Ms Mahmood said: “There have been accusations I know, of two-tier policing, that one community has been prioritised over another. It will be for the IOPC to determine the facts with regard to this specific case, and I cannot and will not comment on them.
“But let me say this on the question of preferential treatment more widely – the police in this country have a sacred duty to police without fear or favour.
“Everyone in this country is equal before the law. It is the promise upon which our whole justice system rests, and the equality of every citizen is the foundation on which the openness, tolerance and generosity of this country rests.”
Digwa appeared in court again on Tuesday, this time charged with multiple weapons offences, alongside his brother and father,
He 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.
His father, Moga Singh, 52, and his brother, Gurpreet Digwa, 27; both of 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 Henry was killed.
Jennifer Pitt, chair of the magistrates, adjourned the proceedings until next month.
The murderer’s mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, awaits sentencing for assisting an offender by taking the knife used to kill back to the nearby family home.
In a statement issued on Tuesday the family said: “The loss of a young life is a grief that no family should ever have to carry.
“We are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure. We love Vickrum. We will continue to love him.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has said the conduct of police officers at the scene of Henry Nowak’s stabbing was “shocking”. He told the BBC’s Today programme on Tuesday morning: “The footage, the body-cam footage, is every parent’s nightmare. It is harrowing, and it is absolutely shocking, and the conduct of the police, when you look at it at the scene, is shocking.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch criticised Mr Farage, telling GMB: “What Nigel Farage is saying completely misunderstands that when the case is happening, politicians – he is a politician by the way, just stop pretending that he’s not, he’s a politician like everyone else – we wait until the sentencing before we say what we think, so that we don’t impact the case.”
Hampshire Police said three of the officers involved are still serving, while one has resigned.
They are currently being treated as witnesses and are not subject to any restrictions or suspensions.
