Police planned intervention during trial of Henry Nowak’s killer – report
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The justice secretary, David Lammy, is being interviewed by the BBC and Sky News this morning and will likely be asked about the future of police reform in the wake of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
The case has come under fresh scrutiny today with a report in the Sunday Times revealing that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary tried to intervene during the trial of Nowak’s killer but were warned by the Crown Prosecution Service it could jeopardise the case.
The police force wanted to release a statement to address what it described as online “disinformation” while court proceedings were at a critical point against Vickrum Digwa, according to the report.
It is understood the statement contained information about the process of a court case, reminded people that nothing could be published that could prejudice legal proceedings, and said that police would answer questions once the trial was complete.
A CPS spokesperson said:
The CPS highlighted to the police that protecting the integrity of the ongoing trial was essential, and of the risks of referring to any aspect of the evidence before it had been heard by the court and the case had been summed up by the judge to the jury.
However, it was made clear that whether a statement was released was ultimately a police operational decision.
Nowak, a first-year accountancy and finance student at the University of Southampton, was fatally stabbed in Southampton last December by Digwa, 23, after a night out with friends.
When police arrived at the murder scene, Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked his turban off. Nowak was handcuffed and arrested despite telling officers he had been stabbed and could not breathe.
Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, which he carried as part of his Sikh religion.
Hampshire police have apologised for their actions, which received global attention after being criticised by the owner of X, Elon Musk, and senior politicians in the Trump administration, and led to violent disorder in Southampton last week.
Hampshire police have been subjected to accusations of “two-tier justice” and anti-white bias after the murder of Nowak despite data discrediting claims that UK police actions disadvantage white people.
Key events
Watching Nowak bodycam footage brought back memories of George Floyd, Lammy says
David Lammy said seeing the bodycam footage of the arrest of Henry Nowak – after the student had been repeatedly stabbed – was “deeply traumatic”.
Lammy, who has two sons and one daughter, explained to Sky News:
I thought of my own sons around the same age. It brought back memories of George Floyd, of Stephen Lawrence.
It was so painful, so harrowing, so horrendous – and my heart goes out to that family for the grace and dignity with which they are now having to conduct their lives sort of in the full lights basically of not just UK attention on this but now global attention on this desperate, desperate tragedy.
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Lammy says he told JD Vance that Nowak case had ‘nothing to do with mass migration’
On Friday evening, the US vice-president, JD Vance, blamed Henry Nowak’s murder on the “mass invasion of migrants” and said the “only response” was “righteous anger”, prompting a rebuke from Downing Street which hit out at “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division”.
The UK justice secretary and deputy prime minister, David Lammy, revealed to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that he spoke to Vance yesterday following his intervention. Lammy, who is rumoured to be good friends with the vice-president, said:
I spoke to the vice president yesterday, and I wanted to emphasise a number of things.
The first is that our democratic process is working well. This young man has been convicted. There is an investigation into the police by the Independent Police (Conduct)Authority.
There is an investigation into Hampshire Police by the inspectorate. The (attorney general) is looking at the sentencing in relation to this. The national police chiefs are looking at the guidance in relation to this.
The second thing was I disagree with him. This has got nothing to do with mass migration. This young man was a Brit. Let’s be clear about that. And I said, ‘look, Mr vice president, you’re wrong about this’.
And it’s also the case that actually murder is coming down in the United Kingdom. So we had an agreeable conversation. But we disagree.
Asked how Vance reacted, Lammy said the vice-president has a “longstanding concern about what he calls western values”, adding that the conversation ended very amicably.
“I also urged him that it’s not helpful to tweet in this way, partly because of what the Nowak family have asked for, and reminded him about their desire not to make this an issue of division and hatred but to make this an issue of common sense.”
Police planned intervention during trial of Henry Nowak’s killer – report
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The justice secretary, David Lammy, is being interviewed by the BBC and Sky News this morning and will likely be asked about the future of police reform in the wake of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
The case has come under fresh scrutiny today with a report in the Sunday Times revealing that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary tried to intervene during the trial of Nowak’s killer but were warned by the Crown Prosecution Service it could jeopardise the case.
The police force wanted to release a statement to address what it described as online “disinformation” while court proceedings were at a critical point against Vickrum Digwa, according to the report.
It is understood the statement contained information about the process of a court case, reminded people that nothing could be published that could prejudice legal proceedings, and said that police would answer questions once the trial was complete.
A CPS spokesperson said:
The CPS highlighted to the police that protecting the integrity of the ongoing trial was essential, and of the risks of referring to any aspect of the evidence before it had been heard by the court and the case had been summed up by the judge to the jury.
However, it was made clear that whether a statement was released was ultimately a police operational decision.
Nowak, a first-year accountancy and finance student at the University of Southampton, was fatally stabbed in Southampton last December by Digwa, 23, after a night out with friends.
When police arrived at the murder scene, Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked his turban off. Nowak was handcuffed and arrested despite telling officers he had been stabbed and could not breathe.
Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, which he carried as part of his Sikh religion.
Hampshire police have apologised for their actions, which received global attention after being criticised by the owner of X, Elon Musk, and senior politicians in the Trump administration, and led to violent disorder in Southampton last week.
Hampshire police have been subjected to accusations of “two-tier justice” and anti-white bias after the murder of Nowak despite data discrediting claims that UK police actions disadvantage white people.
