By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-06-07 13:49:36 | Updated at 2026-06-07 21:58:34
11 hours ago
The police force involved in the death of Henry Nowak sought to falsely cast the British teenager as the aggressor in the incident that led to his killing before seeking to intervene to lecture the public about “disinformation”, a report from the Times of London has claimed.
The Hampshire police force has come under heavy criticism for the response of its officers during the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak on December of last year by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa with a traditional Sikh knife. Bodycam footage released earlier this week showed an officer handcuffing the teen as he pleaded that he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed. In response, an officer was heard saying, “I don’t think you have, mate”, as Nowak lost consciousness.
In the trial that concluded last week, the Southampton Crown Court heard that the police had uncritically believed the false narrative promulgated by the Digwa family that Nowak had been racially abusive, a claim that was thoroughly debunked.
However, according to The Times of London, despite having evidence that Vikrum Digwa was apparently a serial liar, the police force had initially sought to cast Nowak as the aggressor in the incident, releasing a statement implying that he had started the fight and assaulted Digwa and his brother. This was later dropped by the force after pushback from the Nowak family, the paper of record reported.
Nevertheless, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary also reportedly sought to publicly intervene to warn the public about supposed “misinformation” about the case during the trial, a rare intervention from a police force.
While there are strict reporting restrictions in Britain during many criminal cases, international commentators, including X owner Elon Musk, had publicly discussed the killing of Nowak, apparently prompting the police force to attempt to make the rare move to make a statement mid-trial.
A spokeswoman for the Constabulary told the Times: “Following the opening of the trial and the media reporting that followed, a significant amount of mis- and disinformation was circulating online. This included requests for information to be shared that had not been fully examined as part of the murder trial.
“The intention of the statement was to remind the public that there were ongoing legal proceedings and that the law is clear that nothing could be published which could prejudice the trial.”
Ultimately, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) shot down the idea of the force making a public statement, over concerns that it would damage the “integrity” of the case.
“The CPS highlighted to the police that protecting the integrity of the ongoing trial was essential, and of the risks of referring to any aspect of the evidence before it had been heard by the court and the case had been summed up by the judge to the jury,” the prosecution service said. “However, it was made clear that whether a statement was released was ultimately a police operational decision.”
It comes as the political establishment in London is seeking to use the case to push for more censorship powers to combat so-called misinformation.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in the wake of the riots in Southampton following the release of bodycam footage of Nowak’s death that she was “very concerned” about social media amplifying false narratives during times of unrest.
“I definitely think, particularly during moments of crisis and disorder and when public safety is important, we need to look at what more we can do,” she said per The Guardian.
She cited a report from the science, innovation and technology committee of the House of Commons, which found that “misleading and hateful messaging proliferated rapidly online, amplified by the recommendation algorithms of social media companies” during the aftermath of the Southport mass stabbing, which left three young girls dead at a Taylor Swift dance party in 2024.
While supposed misinformation was blamed for the riots that ensued, the initial government narrative that the killer was merely a teenager from Wales proved to be lacking. It was later revealed that the killer, Axel Rudakubana, had immigrated to the country from Rwanda and that he had engaged with Islamist terror material before the mass stabbing.
Regardless, Kendal said the government is “looking at not only boosting trusted sources of information, which I think is extremely important and there’s probably more we could do there. But also, you know, enabling people to reset their algorithms.”
