A loud scandal is unfolding in the United Kingdom after the release of a video recording of the last moments of 18-year-old student Henry Novak's life. Despite fatal stab wounds and pleas for help, the police believed the words of his attacker, handcuffed the young man, and arrested him. Now the circumstances of the law enforcement's actions are being investigated by an independent oversight body.
A scandal is unfolding in the United Kingdom surrounding the death of 18-year-old student Henry Novak, who died from stab wounds in December 2025. On the day the verdict was announced for his killer, the police released a video recording of the last moments of the young man's life. The footage shows the fatally wounded Novak being handcuffed and arrested, believing the words of his attacker, reports BBC.
The recording from police body cameras was published with the consent of the deceased's family and has sparked widespread public outcry. The officers who arrived at the scene first listened to 23-year-old Vikram Digva, who claimed he himself was a victim of a racially motivated attack. After that, the police approached Henry Novak, who was lying on the ground.
The recording can be viewed on the BBC News website. Warning: the video contains shocking footage
In the video, the student can be heard repeatedly saying, "I’ve been stabbed" and "I can’t breathe." However, one of the officers responds, "I don’t think, mate, that you’ve been stabbed." Later, the young man was arrested for assault and handcuffed.
The investigation established that it was Vikram Digva who attacked Novak, inflicting five stab wounds, including a fatal blow to the heart. The weapon was a dagger with a blade length of 21 centimeters. After the attack, Digva called his mother and asked her to hide the weapon until the police arrived.
The court found Vikram Digva guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 21 years. His mother was also found guilty of assisting in concealing the crime.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) continues to investigate the circumstances of Henry Novak's arrest. At the same time, the Attorney General's Office is considering the possibility of reviewing the killer's sentence in light of numerous public appeals, believing the punishment to be too lenient.
The family of the deceased called the police's actions inhumane and humiliating. According to Henry's father, his son told the police nine times that he could not breathe and four times stated that he had been stabbed, yet instead of help, he was handcuffed.
The police have already issued an official apology to the family. Henry Novak's death has sparked significant political and public outcry. UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the incident as a monstrous crime, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the footage he saw was shocking.
Additional attention has been drawn to the question of the weapon's origin. Representatives of the Sikh community emphasized that the dagger used by Digva is not a traditional religious symbol known as a kirpan and has no relation to religious practices. They also reported that they had previously expressed concerns about the convicted individual's behavior.
The investigation into the actions of the police is ongoing. The independent oversight body must determine whether serious mistakes were made in assessing the situation and providing assistance to the fatally wounded student.
The tragedy of Henry Novak has raised not only questions about the actions of the killer but also about the police's handling of the situation, mistaking the fatally wounded young man for the attacker. The results of the investigation could lead to serious conclusions about the actions of law enforcement and impact future response practices to similar incidents.
On Monday, clashes occurred between demonstrators and police in Southampton, southern England, following the release of body camera footage related to the murder of student Henry Novak, which sparked public outrage, reports Euronews. The videos show demonstrators clashing with police, throwing objects, and chanting slogans as tensions rise at the murder site and outside the local police station.
The tragedy of Henry Novak has raised not only questions about the actions of the killer but also about the police's handling of the situation, mistaking the fatally wounded young man for the attacker, reports bb.lv. The results of the investigation could lead to serious conclusions about the actions of law enforcement and impact future response practices to similar incidents.
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