Police Conduct Questioned
Jury Inquest to Examine Police Conduct After Officers Handcuffed Dying Student Henry Nowak
A jury inquest has been ordered into the death of murdered University of Southampton student Henry Nowak, after police in Southampton handcuffed and arrested him while he was dying from a stabbing. Nowak’s attacker, Vickrum Digwa, was later jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years; during the incident he falsely told officers he had been racially abused and attacked. Hampshire’s chief constable Alexis Boon has apologized to Nowak’s family, and the watchdog Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating police conduct. Coroner Jason Pegg said the scope of earlier investigations has not fully met the investigative duty under the right to life, and the inquest will publicly scrutinize whether any police act or omission, or delays in medical treatment, may have caused or contributed to Nowak’s death. The inquest will resume with a jury at Winchester Coroner’s Court on 20 September 2027, though Pegg hoped it could be brought forward. During sentencing, a judge noted that the medical evidence indicated Nowak would not have survived even with rapid emergency treatment.
Key Points
An officer responded to Nowak’s pleas while he was dying, saying: “Don’t think you have, mate”.
Coroner Jason Pegg said the post-mortem recorded the medical cause of death as “a stab wound to chest”.
The inquest will examine the circumstances of how police came to arrest and handcuff Nowak, including that Digwa “failed to tell officers he had stabbed him with a 21cm (8in) blade”.
At sentencing, Judge William Mousley KC quoted pathologist evidence that “no emergency medical treatment would have permitted access to the bleeding vein”, adding: “In simple terms, he would not have survived, however quickly he received first aid, CPR or expert medical treatment.”
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