LONDON (AP) — Two British police officers are facing a potential gross misconduct investigation after they placed handcuffs on and arrested an 18-year-old who had been stabbed and was dying, the Independent Office for Police Conduct announced Wednesday.
The officers, who belong to the Hampshire Constabulary, were the first to respond to the scene in December 2025 after Henry Nowak was stabbed in the southern England coastal city of Southampton. The man who killed him, Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, gave officers a false account, claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack carried out by Nowak, who was white.
Body camera footage captured Nowak’s final moments, showing him in handcuffs telling the responding officers that he had been stabbed and was unable to breathe. The video sparked significant public outrage after it became widely known.
The police conduct office stated that the two officers “may have potentially breached the professional behavior standards of duties and responsibilities, use of force, and discreditable conduct.”
Derrick Campbell, the director of engagement at the IOPC, noted that the investigation “does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.”
The watchdog agency is also examining whether race or religion influenced the officers’ decision-making during the incident. Far-right activists and politicians later used Nowak’s death to push claims that the justice system is biased against white people.
Following the conviction of Digwa, 23, for murder last month — for which he was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison — violence broke out in Southampton.
