United Kingdom Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has paid tribute to Southampton University student Henry Nowak, saying the 18-year-old “deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy”.
The Prime Minister said he was “profoundly humbled” after meeting the bereaved family at Downing Street on Thursday, adding that he is determined to “prevent other families from suffering such a devastating loss”.
Outrage has continued to grow following the release of bodycam footage which showed police placing the teenager in handcuffs while he lay dying, after his attacker, Vickrum Digwa, falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist assault.
Sir Keir acknowledged that there were “difficult questions that need to be answered about the way the police handled Henry’s murder”.
In the footage, the injured teenager repeatedly told officers he had been stabbed, while one officer responded, “I don’t think so mate”.
Digwa, 23, has since been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, with a minimum term of 21 years.
Following a private meeting with Henry’s father Mark Nowak, mother Lucy Ross, and stepmother Katie Woodcock, the Prime Minister said he was deeply moved by accounts of Henry’s “kindness, his warmth, and his love of football” and the bright future that was “cruelly stolen from him in appalling circumstances”.
“Henry deserves a legacy that goes beyond this awful tragedy, and I am committed to making that happen,” Sir Keir said.
“I am determined that we do everything in our power to prevent other families from suffering such a devastating loss.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating Hampshire Constabulary’s handling of events on the night of Nowak’s murder.
Sir Keir said, “We will be unflinching in taking whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case.
“It is our duty now to ensure that lessons are learned, that justice is delivered and that we choose unity and progress over division and hatred. This is the only way to honour Henry’s memory.”
An inquest jury will later examine whether any “act or omission by a police officer” contributed to or caused his death. It is scheduled for September next year, although the coroner has indicated he hopes it can be brought forward.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also met the family and said they did not want anger to “tear communities apart”.
“They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police,” she said.
“That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.”
Badenoch further called for a review of religious practices or exemptions “that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is also expected to meet the family, with a party spokesman describing Henry’s death as “a tragedy that should never happened”.
The Prime Minister’s meeting with the family came after he accused X owner Elon Musk of attempting to “whip up division” in the United Kingdom over the case.
Musk has repeatedly commented on the police response on his platform.
Sir Keir told reporters, “When we have a terrible case like Henry’s case, Henry Nowak, we react calmly, as his family have done.”
The US State Department also weighed in on X, stating, “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West.”
The statement added condolences to Nowak’s family “and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time”.
Sir Keir rejected claims from Nigel Farage about a “two-tier” policing system.
Meanwhile, protests in Southampton on Tuesday night over the case left 11 police officers injured.
