Reuters —
British police faced a backlash on Tuesday over the case of an 18-year-old student handcuffed as he lay dying with stab wounds after his killer falsely claimed a racist assault.
Henry Nowak was killed in a knife attack in the southern English city of Southampton in December last year. His killer, Vickram Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for lying to police at the time that Nowak had assaulted him.
Police body camera footage shows Nowak lying on the street saying, “I’ve been stabbed,” and “I can’t breathe,” to which the officer responds, “I don’t think he’s there.”
Nigel Farage, whose anti-Immigration Reform Party leads the polls, said it was an example of minority rights outweighing white British rights.
“My fear of being called a racist was greater than my fear of dealing with the murder of Henry Nowak,” he said in a statement.
“We should respond to this with pure cold anger.”
Judge William Mousley acknowledged in court on Monday that the incident had caused racial tensions across the UK. A protest is planned for Tuesday night in Southampton, and other protests are being advertised online this week.
Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told BBC Radio that the body camera footage was “horrifying”, adding: “The conduct of the police at the scene is shocking.”
Digwa stabbed Nowak with a knife he was allowed to carry because Sikhs are exempt from carrying ceremonial daggers.
When police arrived, Digwa said her turban was ripped off and she suffered an injury to her eye.
Nowak’s family called his treatment by police “inhuman and degrading,” but in a statement outside court his father said his death “should not be used to create further division, hatred and tension.”
Mr Farage sought to draw parallels with the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the US, which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. “I can’t breathe,” Floyd said as a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
Nowak died shortly after being handcuffed by police. Once they realized he was injured, they removed his handcuffs and began CPR.
Hampshire Police, which has apologized, is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
“The details of the police response raise serious concerns about police impartiality, impartiality and judgment,” Police Commissioner Donna Jones said, adding that the findings of the investigation would be made public without delay.
