Newly released bodycam video has shed fresh light on the account Vickrum Digwa gave police after the fatal attack on Henry Nowak, while also raising questions about the stark difference in how the two men were treated at the scene.
As paramedics tried to save Henry just yards away, Digwa claimed he had been the victim of racist abuse. He told officers Henry had called him a ‘p*ki’ and portrayed him as the drunken aggressor who had “escalated the situation.”
The footage shows an officer repeatedly referring to Digwa as “mate” and, shortly after placing him under arrest, telling him: “I’m not saying you’ve done anything.”
Digwa continues to insist: “But I’ve been racially attacked.” The officer responds: “I know, mate, I know.”
The previously unseen footage comes amid an ongoing national debate over claims of “two-tier justice” in Britain. It also shows that Digwa, although arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, was not put in handcuffs.
Henry Nowak, by contrast, was held on the ground as he lay bleeding and repeatedly told officers: “I can’t breathe.” When he said he had been stabbed, an officer replied: “Don’t think so, mate.”
Digwa’s claims about Henry have since been described as “wicked lies,” with his account attempting to cast the victim as both the instigator and a racist. At no point in the exchange does he tell officers that he had stabbed him.
The video also captures Digwa with his hair tied neatly on top of his head. Court footage later showed it hanging loose by the time police had gathered at the scene, in what was presented as a deliberate attempt to support his claim that Henry had pulled off his turban.
He told officers: ‘He grabbed me, then started grabbing my turban, pulled my hair, started punching me and all this sort of stuff.’
In the video, Digwa also claims Henry’s injuries were caused by him climbing on bins and ‘stumbling around’ – rather than being stabbed at least six times with a ceremonial Sikh sword.
The new footage further supports claims made by Henry’s family that the two men were treated differently by Hampshire Police – something they have rightly described as ‘unbearable’.
Vickrum Digwa falsely accused Henry Nowak of being racist and calling him a ‘p*ki’ as he was getting CPR yards away. He was arrested by a police officer but not cuffed
Footage shows that Digwa’s hair was neatly tied – but he dragged it down as he falsely accused Henry of tearing off his turban
Police officers pinned fatally injured Henry to the ground and handcuffed him as he gasped ‘I’ve been stabbed’
The new footage, released to the BBC by police and the CPS, shows scenes at 11.47pm as paramedics try to save Henry after officers handcuffed him and failed to believe his claims he had been stabbed.
As ambulance workers carry out CPR, police speak to Vickrum Digwa, who immediately claims he was attacked for being Sikh.
‘He pushed my turban off my head, started grabbing my hair. I’m a Sikh, obviously,’ he said.
‘He was grabbing at my hair, dragging me around, and from there an altercation happened. He’s started stumbling around.
‘I saw him from the get-go. I was like, “Mate, you’re clearly drunk. Carry on with your day.” He then escalated the situation, calling me a “p*ki” and all that sort of stuff.’
He then claimed his family had repeatedly suffered racist attacks in the past.
‘This isn’t the first time something like this has happened,’ he said.
As Henry lies dying behind him, Digwa complains about the blue lights from emergency vehicles.
He then asks police to ‘turn the flashes off… so it’s not too much in my eyesight’.
The nine-minute video is then muted as officers check his personal details.
A male officer then speaks to him, saying: ‘This is really important, OK? The time now is 11.55.’
Digwa replies: ‘I’m tired.’
The officer continues: ‘OK, it’s important, mate. At this time, I’m arresting you on suspicion of attempted murder, OK?’
Digwa appears shocked as the officer reads him his rights.
He says: ‘What do you mean, attempted murder? Why am I getting arrested?’
The officer replies: ‘You’ve got your side of the story, mate. We don’t know what’s gone on here, OK? So we need to find out, OK?’
Digwa again says: ‘But I’ve been racially attacked.’
The officer replies: ‘I know, mate, I know,’ before adding: ‘I’m not saying you’ve done anything, mate.’
Hampshire Police has now apologised to Henry’s family for the way officers treated him before he died.
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been launched.
Police took eight minutes to find the stab wound that killed Henry Nowak, it emerged this week.
The 18-year-old bled to death last December after being handcuffed by officers who believed claims by his Sikh killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, that he had racially abused him.
Bodycam footage, which sparked riots in Southampton, showed officers initially ignoring the dying teenager when he said he had been stabbed, with a male officer telling him ‘I don’t think you have, mate’.
Amid intense public criticism of the police response, Hampshire Police has released a transcript of the full recording. It reveals the moment officers realised Henry was not breathing, prompting frantic efforts to save him.
The transcript begins with Henry lying on a gravel drive with his hands cuffed behind him. At that point, officers had been at the scene for around three minutes and had called for an ambulance.
The male officer says, ‘I’m not sure he’s breathing’, before checking Henry’s pulse and confirming, ‘He’s not breathing’.
He then removes the handcuffs as his female colleague tells medics to bring a defibrillator.
The two officers start to move Henry, accidentally hitting his head on a wall, before they take turns carrying out chest compressions while telling the teenager to ‘stay with us’.
Henry was arrested on a Southampton street last December after being attacked
Medics on the phone give the officers CPR advice, telling them to ‘push, push, push’. Ambulance teams arrive but officers continue giving CPR until the medics are ready to step in.
As they start to cut Henry’s clothing from his chest, the officers are horrified to see blood coming from his nose, and become increasingly panicked.
After all of Henry’s clothes are cut away, the extent of his injuries becomes even more apparent.
‘Has he been stabbed there?’ the male officer asks, before saying he was ‘pushing on a [swear word] stab wound’.
When a paramedic runs up to them, the male police officer explains they have ‘just discovered a stab wound’ in Henry’s chest.
Around nine minutes after police arrived at the scene, the transcript ended at 11.46pm on December 3, 2025, when paramedics took over.
The transcript, obtained by the BBC, comes amid an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into the way officers responded to Henry’s stabbing.
At Digwa’s sentencing, Judge William Mousley KC said: ‘The genuine shock to the particular police officer, when he realised that he had been giving CPR to Henry when he had a serious chest wound tends to show that he was doing his best in a very difficult situation’.
He also described how officers had been given a ‘convincing but wholly false narrative’ of the incident.
Vickrum Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for the murder
Police have apologised to Henry’s family but said the pathologist who spoke in court was clear ‘there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry’ as his fatal wound had caused ‘extensive’ internal bleeding.
The teenager’s treatment sparked fresh claims of ‘two-tier policing’, with critics suggesting officers had disbelieved Mr Nowak when he said he had been stabbed, because he was white.
Current National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) guidance highlights a need for ‘not treating everyone the same or being colour-blind’.
Sir Stephen Watson, the anti-woke Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, has called for the guidance to be ‘revisited’ to rebut accusations officers are treating people unfairly.
He said: ‘Fairness isn’t getting involved in the language of activism and social engineering.
‘It’s that which led us into conflict with the perception of reality. I certainly understand how it came about and I’m certainly concerned that we address that.’
Referring to NPCC guidelines, Sir Stephen said: ‘We have in some contexts adopted the language of activism.
‘This is something we need to revisit, refresh and make sure that whatever we produce has the effect of doubling down on our impartiality.’
Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Mr Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, that he claimed he carried as part of his Sikh religion.
Henry’s treatment prompted furious accusations of ‘two-tier’ policing
He had previously been investigated by police in 2023 on suspicion of stealing ceremonial blades from a Sikh temple in Southampton but no further action was taken.
His comments come after Henry’s family, who have met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, said they want a return to ‘common-sense policing’.
Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch criticised police for replacing ‘thinking with box ticking’.
Speaking earlier this month, she said officers are juggling ‘race action plans, political pressure and activist expectations’ – and criticised policing’s senior leaders, ‘who have allowed these ill-advised frameworks to take hold’.
Mrs Badenoch said ‘just like Stephen (Lawrence’s) shocking killing in 1993, Henry’s death at the hands of an assailant who lied about claims of racism needs to be a turning point.’
