Police chief apologises to Henry Nowak’s family for arresting dying student

The Hampshire police chief has apologized for his officers’ actions surrounding the arrest of dying student Henry Nowak but has insisted he won’t resign.

Bodyworn camera footage shows Henry Nowak telling police ‘I’ve been stabbed, I can’t breathe’ before an officer replied ‘I don’t think you have, mate’.

Police read Henry his rights and put him in handcuffs as the 18-year-old bled to death from a 7cm knife wound to his chest.

His killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, insisted that he was the victim, telling officers he had a bruised eye and lied, saying that Henry had not been knifed.

Digwa has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of the University of Southampton student.

Despite one of the arresting officers resigning, a protest march turned violent ending in 11 police officers being injured as men tried to get to the spot Henry was killed.

The day after the riots, Alexis Boon, head of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary apologized for his officers’ actions.

Asked what he would now say to the family, Boon told the BBC: ‘I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this.’

He said: ‘I am clear we are sorry for handcuffing and arresting Henry, but I don’t know if that is cutting through for people. We understand it and are genuinely sorry.’

He called the student’s death a ‘tragedy from start to finish’ but added: ‘I don’t accept the term of two-tier policing, I don’t recognize it.’

He added that those involved in the disorder had been ‘determined to spark fear and division’.

He said: ‘What we, as a society, cannot accept is the violent scenes we saw in Southampton last night.

‘Some clearly arrived intent on causing disorder and trouble. We saw bottles thrown, makeshift weapons used, damage caused to the homes and vehicles of innocent residents and threats and violence directed towards our officers.

‘As a result, 11 officers and one police dog were injured, while trying to do their job to protect the communities that we serve.’

Mr Boon added: ‘It is not for me to tell politicians what to say. Politicians have a platform and a responsibility to ensure that they support the police and that violence does not ensue and I don’t think any politician wants to see violence spark out on the streets of Southampton or anywhere else.

‘I think everyone would condemn what happened last night.’

Southampton community leaders have accused the far right of bussing people into the city to ‘fuel’ violence to further their own agenda following the murder.

Members of the far-right were seen flashing Nazi salutes to police before flaming bins were pushed at them.

John Savage, a labor representative for the Portswood ward of Southampton City Council where the disorder took place, described the violence as ‘absolutely outrageous’.

He added: ‘Mark Nowak, Henry’s father, clearly stated that he didn’t want anything to cause further division and tension in the area and that’s exactly what has happened it seems they are doing it for their own aims, their own agenda and it’s not welcome here.’