For eight minutes, a police officer handcuffed and restrained dying teenager Henry Nowak on a Southampton street, believing his pleas that he had been stabbed were a lie. It was only after the officer noticed blood that the 8cm-deep chest wound was discovered – a delay that has sparked national outrage and violent disorder.
Bodycam footage from the attending officer, released to the BBC with the family's consent, captures the moment panic sets in. The same officer had earlier told Henry, “Don’t think you have mate,” before restraining him. The transcript shows that throughout those critical minutes, Vickrum Digwa – later jailed for life for murder – was “consistently lying” to officers, claiming he had been racially attacked by the 18-year-old finance student from Chafford Hundred, Essex.
“Police took eight minutes to find Henry Nowak's fatal stab wound after his killer lied about a racial attack.”
The timings are stark: police arrived on scene, but it took a full eight minutes to discover the stab wound that killed Henry. Efforts to save his life continued for another 51 minutes, but an emergency doctor flown in by helicopter recorded his time of death as 00:37 on 4 December 2025.
At Digwa’s sentencing on June 1, Judge William Mousley KC acknowledged the officers had been given a “convincing but wholly false narrative” and noted that “sometimes, someone arrested and handcuffed will feign injury” in the hope of being released. He praised the officer’s shock when he realised he had been giving CPR to a boy with a serious chest wound, saying it showed he was “doing his best in a very difficult situation”.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the pathologist who gave evidence was clear “there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry” because the wound caused “extensive” internal bleeding. The force has apologised to Henry’s family for the way he was treated at the scene. Chief Constable Alexis Boon said of the bodycam footage: “Wha…” – the quote cut off in the source, but the apology stands.
The footage, which triggered riots in Southampton, lays bare the fatal consequences when a killer’s lies are believed over a dying victim’s truth.