Henry Nowak did not have to die. He was the latest, tragic victim of an intolerant and toxic culture that has infiltrated our police and many across our society. A culture that prioritises unfounded claims of racism over a young boy gasping for breath crying that he “can’t breathe” while officers handcuff him for wicked lies and accusations of racism.
Henry Nowak did not have to die. He was the latest, tragic victim of an intolerant and toxic culture that has infiltrated our police and many across our society. A culture that prioritises unfounded claims of racism over a young boy gasping for breath crying that he “can’t breathe” while officers handcuff him for wicked lies and accusations of racism.
Eighteen-year-old Henry, a bright finance student from Essex, was walking home from a night out in Southampton last December when Vickrum Digwa, 23, stabbed him five times with a 21-centimetre blade, far bigger than any discreet religious symbol.
As Henry lay dying, gasping while he stated that he couldn’t breathe and had been stabbed, Digwa told officers the teenager had racially abused him. That claim, now exposed as an evil lie, was treated as more credible than a boy who was bleeding to death from multiple stab wounds.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, stabbed Henry Nowak five times with a 21-centimetre blade
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Police even handcuffed Henry instead of saving him. In fact, they didn’t even do the bare minimum to check if Henry was telling the truth about his injuries. That is beyond heinous. He drowned in his own blood while in police custody believing he was the criminal. Can there be a more appalling injustice?
Henry’s death has also sparked yet further debate over equality between British way of life and the exceptions made for minority groups under the law.
On social media, I’ve shared the damning office photo of Digwa proudly wearing his oversized dagger at work. I’ve been crystal clear: this must stop. No special rules for anyone. The religious exemption, that only applies to Sikhs, is two-tier nonsense that’s cost a young man his life. It is also an exemption that is surrendered by Sikhs in countless countries around the world, but seemingly, not here in Britain.
Calling for Sikhs to stop carrying blades in public is not demonisation of the community. It’s a demand, and indeed, a necessity for simple equality under the law.
We need an honest, fair debate about issues like this in Britain, a proactive one, not a reactive one. We must not repeat the silence that permits tragedies like this to happen again. Sikhs thrive in France, Italy, Sweden, the UAE and countless other countries, without the right to carry blades, we should expect the same here. I don’t think that ask is unreasonable in a society that sends regularly sends others to prison for the same act. How can we be serious about the knife crime epidemic when laws like this exist?
Henry Nowak should be starting his second year at university
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And where is the outrage from our political class? They took a knee for George Floyd, yet stay silent when a white British boy dies under eerily similar circumstances; “I can’t breathe”. Their selective compassion and total silence is beyond grotesque and exceptionally exposing for the type of people they are.
Henry should be starting his second year at university. A family has had their son stolen from them. The little we can do - in fact, the little we must do - is to remember Henry by taking action.
We must call out how “anti-racism” zealotry is seemingly now overriding basic humanity and the duty of those who are meant to protect us. We must push for equal laws for all, no exceptions, no matter how difficult the conversation.
If we cannot achieve this, at the bare minimum, we will have failed, once again, to act, to change and to learn the lessons of yet another tragedy.