British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has condemned as “completely unacceptable” violent, racially charged demonstrations over the case of an 18-year-old student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying after his killer falsely claimed to be a victim of a racist attack.
The riots on Tuesday were spurred by claims that the United Kingdom has “two-tier justice” that disadvantages white people.
Henry Nowak was murdered in December by Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old British Sikh. This week, a court found Digwa stabbed 18-year-old Nowak five times and then falsely claimed to be the victim of a racist assault. Police initially treated Nowak as a suspect and handcuffed him, before noticing his injuries and trying to resuscitate him.
Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, and the case has dominated headlines in the UK, as violent protests against the police erupted in Southampton, the city where Nowak was killed.
Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares late on Tuesday by hundreds of people in the southern English coastal city. Two people were arrested, and 11 officers and a police dog were injured, police reported.
Nowak’s death has triggered debates about policing and knife crime, and inflamed claims by right-wing activists and politicians that there are double standards in the UK’s justice system with a bias against white people.
Mahmood accused protesters of hijacking a tragedy to stir up violence against the police.
“I thank the police who have tonight shown great bravery and calm in the face of disgraceful violence directed at them,” she said on X , calling on people to listen to the Nowak family’s “powerful call”.
Outside the court on Monday, Nowak’s father, Mark, criticised the “inhumane and degrading” treatment of his son by the police, but said: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone.”
After the sentencing, police released bodycam video showing officers not taking Nowak seriously when he told them he had been stabbed and repeatedly said he could not breathe.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was sickened by the video and questions needed to be answered about how “accusations of racism informed the decision-making in this case”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is reviewing the actions of the officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The National Police Chiefs’ Council also said it will review its antiracism guidance in the wake of the killing.
Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party , said on Tuesday that the case was an example of “two-tier policing” — a right-wing talking point that claims ethnic minorities and immigrants are treated more favourably than white people.
Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage” and said, “White lives matter just as much as Black lives.”
X owner Elon Musk and British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson , have also expressed outrage at the case and called on people to take to the streets in “Justice for Henry Nowak” protests.
Some UK politicians have called for Sikhs to be banned from carrying ceremonial knives, known as kirpans. The judge said Digwa had a small kirpan but also had an 8-inch (21cm) sheathed Sikh dagger that was used as the weapon to kill Nowak.
Hampshire Police has apologised, and said in a statement on Tuesday that one of the officers involved in the arrest had resigned, while three others were being treated as witnesses in the investigation.
