A dying British student repeatedly told officers he had been stabbed while his killer falsely claimed to be the victim of a racist attack — and a police watchdog says officers did nothing wrong.

Story Highlights

• Vickrum Digwa stabbed Henry Nowak in Southampton in December 2025, then told arriving officers he had been the victim of a racist attack.
• Body-worn camera footage shows Nowak, already fatally wounded, pleading “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe” as officers handcuffed him.
• Nowak suffered two stab wounds to the back of his legs and a fatal stab wound to the heart.
• Hampshire Police have apologized and the force is under investigation by the police watchdog, which has so far found officers “did nothing wrong.”

A Killer’s False Accusation Shaped the Police Response

On December 3, 2025, Vickrum Digwa stabbed Henry Nowak in Southampton, England, inflicting two wounds to the back of Nowak’s legs and a fatal wound to his heart. When officers arrived, Digwa told them he had been the victim of a racist attack. A nearly 12-minute emergency call made before police arrived included claims of a racial assault and a turban being removed — accusations that appear to have shaped how officers assessed the scene from the moment they stepped out of their vehicles.

The emergency call framed Digwa as the victim before a single officer had eyes on either man. That kind of false counter-allegation — in which the actual attacker presents himself as the injured party — is a documented and dangerous pattern. Officers operating under chaotic, time-compressed conditions often rely on the first coherent account available. In this case, that account came from the man who had just committed the stabbing.

Bodycam Footage Captures a Dying Man Being Restrained

Body-worn camera footage released by Hampshire Police, with permission from Nowak’s family, captures the moment officers handcuffed him. Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe” while being restrained. He had already received a fatal stab wound to the heart. The footage presents a devastating picture: a mortally wounded man telling officers exactly what had happened to him while being treated as the suspect rather than the victim.

The release of this footage has ignited public outrage in Britain and renewed calls to examine whether police forces have developed a reflexive tendency to treat hate-crime allegations as automatically credible, regardless of physical evidence at the scene. Critics argue that Nowak’s visible injuries and repeated statements should have immediately changed how officers responded. The bodycam record raises hard questions about training, judgment, and the weight officers give to racial grievance claims under pressure.

Watchdog Investigation Underway as Police Apologize

Hampshire Police issued a public apology following the incident, and the force is now under formal investigation by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Despite the apology and the ongoing review, the watchdog’s preliminary position is that officers “did nothing wrong.” That conclusion has done little to quiet public anger. Nowak’s family and many observers argue that a man dying from a stab wound while telling police he had been stabbed represents a catastrophic failure, whatever the formal finding.

Exactly the questions we should all be demanding answered!

We need to see the videos leading up to the stabbing.

There is CCTV footage of Vickrum Digwa exiting a red car at 11:15 pm, and the stabbing occurred at around 11:30 pm allegedly.

He claims he was out helping his… https://t.co/Nwnuf2YMYh

— JKash 🍊MAGA Queen (@JKash000) June 3, 2026

The case has become a flashpoint in a broader British debate about policing, immigration, and whether racial bias policies have created a two-tier system in which accusation carries more weight than evidence. The full watchdog findings, trial judgment from Southampton Crown Court, and complete bodycam record have not all been made publicly available. Until those primary documents are released in full, the public record remains dependent on secondhand reporting and short-form media clips — a situation that benefits no one seeking honest accountability. What is already documented, however, is damning enough: a killer lied to police, a victim died in handcuffs, and the system that was supposed to protect Henry Nowak failed him at every turn.

Sources:

[1] Web – REVEALED: Vickrum Digwa taunted, chased, filmed Henry Nowak after …

[2] YouTube – Bodycam footage shows the moment police handcuffed …

[3] YouTube – Footage reveals murder victim Henry Nowak told police ‘I …