Southampton: Protests escalate! Stones thrown at police

Southampton (England) – A student lies on the ground, stabbed, calls for help, but the police handcuff him instead of helping him. Henry Nowak (18) died in Southampton last December. A video from a body camera now shows: The police officers believed the perpetrator – not the victim. His murderer, Vickrum Digwa (23), was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday. The violence against the police escalated at a demonstration. Officers were pelted with stones and fireworks.

On the video you can see how the seriously injured business student repeatedly says, that he was stabbed. He shouted, “I can’t breathe.” But the officials didn’t believe him. “You were stabbed? Where?” a police officer said on the video. “I don’t think that’s you, buddy.”

The reason for the fatal misunderstanding: Digwa and his brother had told the police officers at the crime scene and during the emergency call that he was the victim. As a devout Sikh, the first-year student racially insulted him, hit him and tore his turban off his head. But in reality, the 23-year-old had seriously injured the young man with a 21 centimeter long ceremonial knife. According to the prosecution, he stabbed her five times. The police initially believed the perpetrator. Nowak died lying on the ground.

Bottles, stones and fireworks against police officers

To vent their displeasure, more than a thousand people gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station on Tuesday Demonstration. They moved through the city, including to the murderer’s family home. They kept shouting Nowak’s name and the phrase “I can’t breathe”.

As it between police and participants in the rally escalated, the officers withdrew. Several rioters threw bottles, stones and garbage cans at them. According to the BBC, the police were also shot at with fireworks.

Right-wing extremist activist Tommy Robinson was among the demonstrators. He accused the police of treating white people “like second-class citizens.” One participant, 63-year-old Kate Phillips, told AFP that the case showed that “racism runs both ways.”

Prime Minister calls for clarification

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke on the online service X on Monday of a “terrible, shocking case”. An independent commission is investigating the case, he wrote. The police have to “answer serious questions”.