Nowak family accuse Hampshire Police of cover-up after student's fatal stabbing
Henry Nowak's family say police gave changing accounts of his death and concealed that he was handcuffed as he lay dying. An IOPC inquiry is ongoing.
Nowak family: 'We were manipulated in our darkest hours'
The family of Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old student stabbed to death in Southampton on 3 December 2025, have accused Hampshire Police of giving false accounts of his death and withholding key information during the investigation. BBC News reports the allegations ahead of a documentary to be broadcast on ITV.
Katie Nowak, Henry's stepmother, told ITV that the force had failed the family "multiple times". She said: "I fear that we may have been manipulated in our darkest hours. I fear that some decisions were made to try and protect the police and their reputation rather than help us as a family."
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Chief Constable Alexis Boon has since issued a formal apology. "I am incredibly sorry that in his final moments, when he needed us most, we failed him," Boon said in a statement to ITV.
Handcuffs not initially disclosed
Among the family's central complaints is that police did not initially tell them Henry had been handcuffed as he lay dying. They also say officers first presented him as the aggressor in the fatal altercation with his killer, Vickrum Digwa.
Henry's father, Mark Nowak, said police accounts changed each time the family made contact. "The story was evolving every time we had an interaction," he said. "That evolution of what actually happened that night really shocked us, and we felt we were being hoodwinked. We felt we were not being told the truth."
Mark Nowak also recalled being asked to approve a draft police press release that characterised his son as the aggressor in the confrontation.
Body-camera footage shown only at trial
Henry's sister Olivia Nowak said the family did not see police body-worn camera footage until the first day of Digwa's trial at Southampton Crown Court. That footage, played in court, showed the teenager repeating "I've been stabbed", to which an officer replied: "Don't think you have, mate."
"That video only came out because there was a trial," Olivia said. "We didn't see it before the trial."
Katie Nowak said the prospect that Digwa might plead guilty — and that the footage might never have been made public — had long worried the family. "If he'd have pleaded guilty or we hadn't have hired expert help, we've always had that fear that the truth may never have come out."
The killing and the conviction
Henry Nowak, a first-year student at the University of Southampton from Chafford Hundred in Essex, was attacked as he walked home from a night out. He suffered five stab wounds or cuts inflicted by a 21cm blade. Digwa, then 23, claimed at trial that the weapon was a kirpan he carried as part of his Sikh faith. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years.
Watchdog inquiry and government review
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed its investigation into potential failures in the police response to the stabbing is expected to conclude early next year. However, the family said they received a letter from the IOPC in April stating that no officers would face a conduct or criminal investigation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a separate independent inquiry into the murder, to be led by former lord chancellor Alex Chalk. That inquiry will examine "any missed opportunities to intervene".
Chief Constable Boon acknowledged that the family's grievances extend beyond the events of a single night. "They have rightly raised serious concerns about the police response and their treatment throughout the investigation and since," he said. "No family should ever find themselves in this position."
Dear Henry: Our Fight for Justice, a Tonight special, airs on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 GMT on ITV, ITVX and the ITV News YouTube channel.
Source: BBC News