‘I can’t breathe’: Outrage after UK police handcuff dying student

Body‑camera footage shows a dying student who was handcuffed by British police after being stabbed by a Sikh man and falsely accused of racially abusing his attacker. The footage, released on Tuesday, sparked widespread outrage.

Eighteen‑year‑old Henry Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” as he lay mortally wounded in December, following a night out with his football team.

On Monday, a judge sentenced the killer, 23‑year‑old Sikh Vickrum Digwa, to a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Nowak to death with a ceremonial knife that had a 21‑cm (8‑inch) blade.

When police arrived in Southampton, Digwa lied to officers, claiming that Nowak had racially insulted him and that he was the victim.

The footage, shown at Digwa’s trial, shows police accepting the attacker’s allegation. Instead of providing immediate assistance, the officers placed Nowak in handcuffs while he pleaded that he had been stabbed and could not breathe.

One officer can be heard asking Nowak, “You’ve been stabbed, whereabouts?” before adding, “Don’t think you have, mate.” Moments later the student collapsed and became unconscious.

After Digwa was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court, Nowak’s father, Mark, described the police treatment of his son as “shocking.” He called it “inhumane and degrading… his murderer, however, was afforded decency. He was believed.”

The family granted permission for the body‑camera footage to be released.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the case “awful, shocking” on X on Monday, stating that it was right the independent police complaints watchdog was investigating the officers’ response to Nowak’s senseless murder.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for changes to police diversity policies. Farage said there needed to be an end to “anti‑white prejudice” and that “white lives matter.” He compared Nowak’s words to the 2020 case of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in the United States.

Farage said, “I can’t breathe. Familiar words. Remember career criminal George Floyd, who died in appalling circumstances in Midwest America.” He added that, at the time, “Keir Starmer was taking the knee. Black Lives Matter exploded all over the country. Churchill’s statue was defaced.” He argued that after Nowak’s death there has been “absolute silence, proof … we’re living in a two‑tier culture in this country where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.” He said change was needed to prevent society from being “ripped apart” amid distrust between communities and concerns over policing and institutions.

Badenoch accused Farage of “deepening divisions” with his comments but also criticized what she called “two‑tier policing,” in which police allegedly treat ethnic minorities more leniently. She called for equal treatment of all citizens by the police, regardless of ethnicity. “No two‑tier policing, no believing that racism only happens to ethnic minorities. It happens to everyone,” she told Good Morning Britain. “And the police need to be trained like that, not with the terrible anti‑racism training, which is just reverse racism and reverse discrimination,” she added.

American tech entrepreneur Elon Musk posted on X an offer to fund a private prosecution against the police over its handling of the murder.

Digwa was due in court again on Tuesday with his brother, Gurpreet Digwa, 27, and his father, Moga Singh, 52, on weapons offences. All three face charges of possession of offensive weapons, including a flick knife, an extendable baton, knuckledusters, a machete, swords and kusaris.

Digwa’s family apologized to Nowak’s family for the killing and for bringing the Sikh community into “disrepute.” The convicted killer’s mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, will be sentenced on July 17 for assisting an offender by taking the knife back to the family home.

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