Police arrested and handcuffed stabbing sufferer Henry Nowak as he pleaded for assist
Henry Nowak, who was murdered aged 18 (Picture: Hampshire Police/PA Wire)
The household of a teenage homicide sufferer who was handcuffed by police as he was dying from stab wounds have demanded “a full, fearless and clear investigation”. Police handled college pupil Henry Nowak in an “inhumane and degrading” method and ignored his pleas for assist, father Mark Nowak stated. A choose yesterday sentenced Sikh man Vickrum Digwa to life imprisonment following the homicide of 18-year-old Henry in Southampton final December.
Digwa stabbed his sufferer 5 occasions with a ceremonial knife after which lied to police, telling them that he had the truth is been the sufferer of a racist assault. The case has provoked outrage after officers attending the scene apparently believed Digwa’s story and arrested Mr Nowak, regardless of the scholar telling them he had been stabbed. It was solely when Mr Nowak collapsed and misplaced consciousness that officers began to supply first support.
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Digwa, 23, will serve a minimal of 21 years following the brutal killing. He was additionally convicted of carrying a bladed weapon in public whereas his mom, Kiran Kaur, 53, was discovered responsible of helping an offender by eradicating the weapon from the scene.
Talking on behalf of the household, together with Henry’s mom Lucy and stepmother Katie, Mark Nowak stated: “Henry had been stabbed a number of occasions and as his chest full of blood, he tried to flee. He was chased, abused and filmed by Vickrum Digwa and others.
“When police arrived, Henry was mendacity on the ground, barely in a position to sit up and plainly in extreme medical misery. Along with his closing breaths, he advised the officers that he couldn’t breathe. He advised them he had been stabbed.”
Highlighting proof introduced to the courtroom through the trial, he continued: “The truth is, Henry advised the officers that he couldn’t breathe 9 occasions. He advised them he had been stabbed 4 occasions.”
“The response from one officer was: ‘I don’t suppose you will have, mate.’”
In a press release delivered exterior the courtroom, Mr Nowak continued: “Henry was then pulled throughout the gravel, his arms compelled behind his again, and he was positioned in handcuffs. As a substitute of being handled as a dying sufferer, police formally arrested Henry for assault and browse him his rights. That was the very last thing he heard.
“Henry didn’t die with dignity. He didn’t die with the care he deserved. He misplaced consciousness earlier than anybody believed him.”
The household known as on Dwelling Secretary Shabana Mahmood to make sure watchdog the Impartial Workplace for Police Conduct, which is wanting into the case, “has the assets, authority and independence it must conduct a full, fearless and clear investigation”.
Mr Nowak added: “We don’t need his loss of life for use to create additional division, hatred or stress.”
Reform Dwelling Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf demanded Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary launch body-cam footage displaying precisely what occurred. He stated the therapy of Mr Nowak raised issues about “two-tier policing” and warned: “Public belief within the police is already at a historic low.”
Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones known as for a evaluation of laws that at present permits Sikhs to hold ceremonial daggers.
She stated: “Vickrum Digwa was in a position to carry a knife in public as a result of there’s an exemption for individuals who observe the Sikh religion to hold ceremonial daggers … I intend to put in writing to the Prime Minister to request a nationwide evaluation of the legal guidelines in regards to the carrying of bladed articles underneath non secular exemptions.”
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