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Riots broke out in the southern English city of Southampton on Tuesday after bodycam footage from a murder trial showed police handcuffing an 18-year-old stabbing victim as he lay dying, repeatedly telling officers he could not breathe, sparking outrage across Britain and drawing interventions from the prime minister and senior opposition figures.
Henry Nowak, a student, was killed in December following a night out with members of his football team. A judge on Monday sentenced Vickrum Digwa, 23, to a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Nowak with a ceremonial knife measuring 21 centimetres.
When officers arrived, Digwa falsely told them Nowak had racially abused him and that he was the victim, and police initially accepted the claim, restraining the mortally wounded teenager rather than treating him as a victim.
The footage, played during Digwa's trial at Southampton Crown Court, shows an officer asking Nowak whether he had been stabbed before responding: "Don't think you have, mate." Moments later, Nowak collapsed and lost consciousness.
Speaking after sentencing, Nowak's father Mark said the police response to his son was "shocking," adding: "His murderer, however, was afforded decency.
He was believed." The family gave permission for police to release the footage. Hampshire Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the national policing watchdog.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the footage as "harrowing" and said the IOPC investigation was "absolutely right," acknowledging there were "serious questions for the police to answer."
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood urged the public not to let the murder "turn communities against one another," warning in parliament against those who "seek personal political profit from tragedy."
More than a thousand protesters gathered outside Southampton's main police station on Tuesday evening, chanting "Two-tier scum" and waving Union Jack and England flags.
Far-right figure Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, addressed the crowd, claiming that "as white people we are treated as second-rate citizens by our own police force."
Protesters, some wearing masks, then marched toward the residential area near the crime scene, where a group of roughly a hundred attacked a line of riot police with bricks, bottles, flares, chairs and bins, including one set alight. Officers responded with riot shields and spray.
American technology entrepreneur Elon Musk posted on X offering to fund a private prosecution against police over their handling of the case.
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The case reignited a charged political debate in Britain over so-called two-tier policing, the perception that police treat ethnic minority suspects more leniently than white ones. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the country was "living in a two-tier culture," claiming the rights of white people mattered less than those of ethnic minorities.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused Farage of "deepening divisions" while also criticising two-tier policing practices.
Digwa appeared in court Tuesday alongside his brother, Gurpreet Digwa, 27, and his father, Moga Singh, 52, on separate weapons offences. His family apologised to Nowak's family for the killing and for bringing the Sikh community into "disrepute."
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