The lies began before the bodycam was even rolling. Vickrum Digwa, 23, had just stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak five times in the streets of Southampton. Minutes later, as officers arrived, he spun a story that would hold for weeks — until new footage exposed it as a fabrication.
In the video, released after a request by the BBC, Digwa can be heard telling officers he was the victim of a racist attack. Henry, he claimed, was “obviously drunk”, had barged into him, called him a “Paki”, and pulled off his turban. The student’s blood alcohol level, the court later heard, was low enough to pass a breathalyser test.
“New bodycam footage reveals Henry Nowak's killer Vickrum Digwa lying to police while the student was handcuffed.”
While Digwa was listened to with sympathy — an officer telling him “I know, I know, I know” — Henry Nowak lay dying on the pavement, handcuffed. The footage backs what the Nowak family had always asserted: Digwa was never handcuffed. Hampshire police later confirmed he remained uncuffed for four days in custody.
“It’s unbearable,” Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, said in a statement outside court earlier this month. He compared his son’s “inhumane and degrading” treatment to the “decency” shown to his murderer.
Digwa never mentioned the stabbing. When an officer asked how Henry got his wound, Digwa replied: “What wound, sorry?” He suggested the blood came from a punch or a fall while climbing bins. It took officers eight minutes to find the fatal stab wound in Henry’s chest.
The footage was released as Digwa begins a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years for murder. For the Nowak family, it confirms what they have said all along: that their son was treated as a criminal while his killer was believed.
The contrast in treatment — one handcuffed, one comforted — continues to fuel questions about policing in Southampton, where violent disorder erupted after the first video of Henry in handcuffs was released.