UK cops 'hoodwinked' Henry Nowack's family after he was stabbed, left to bleed out

The family of Henry Nowak, the 18 year old student who was handcuffed by police in the UK while dying of stab wounds inflicted by a Sikh man carrying a ceremonial kirpan, has spoken out about alleged police manipulation.

Nowak's attacker, Vickrum Digwa, was treated as a victim of racism by police responding to the scene of the crime. Digwa, a Sikh, said that Nowak had used racial slurs, punching him and knocking off his turban on Dec. 3, 2025 in Southampton, UK.

This led officers to side with Digwa and dismiss Nowack's life-threatening wounds. When he told them he had been stabbed, officers responded "I don't think you have, mate."

In a documentary titled, "Dear Henry: Our Fight for Justice," the family described feeling "hoodwinked" by police in the aftermath of his murder, according to the Telegraph. They said that they were told by police that first aid had immediately been administered. They later learned that Henry had been handcuffed and arrested prior to aid being given.

Also, they were not shown the body camera footage until the beginning of Digwa's trial. They said that police questioned Nowak's political views as well as their own views immediately after telling them of Nowak's death.

Lucy Ross, Nowak's mother, said that she thought at the time, "It's a really strange question. You've just been told that your son's been murdered and then they asked that."

Nowak's stepmother, Katie Nowak said, "Quite early on something didn't feel right to us because we were being told that Henry was the aggressor, or it was certainly being alluded to," adding, "I do feel that we have been failed multiple times. I fear that we may have been manipulated in our darkest hours. And I fear that some decisions were made to try and protect the police and their reputation rather than help us as a family."

On the police force's Facebook page, within hours of Nowak being murdered, the family said that "two individuals were attacked by an unknown man," with Mrs. Nowak saying, "we then knew that unknown man to be Henry, so even reading that was so shocking."

Henry's father, Mark Nowak, said that he was called by police after identifying his son's body to approve a press release in which his son was depicted as the "aggressor" in the draft statement. Mark Nowak said, "Tarnishing the victim's name at that stage was shocking for me to hear," adding that the story seemed to be "evolving every time we had an interaction."

Mark Nowak said, "That evolution of what actually happened that night really shocked us, and we felt that we were being hoodwinked. We felt we were not being told the truth."

In the bodycam footage, Nowak can be heard stating, "I can't breathe," at least nine times, and "I've been stabbed."

Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, was convicted of aiding a killer and concealing evidence, and is set to be released on the anniversary of the killing after serving less than half of her three-year prison sentence. She will be released as part of the Labour Party's early release program.

Digwa is currently in jail for life, with a minimum of 21 years after being convicted of Henry Nowak's murder. An independent review of the murder was announced last week by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.