Police dog injured as race riots explode after UK teen’s murder

The death of a teenager who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying has kicked off a firestorm of debate on attitudes towards race in the UK as violent protesters and far-right activists and politicians are accused of hijacking the tragedy. Two people were arrested and 11 officers and a police dog were injured as police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares late on Tuesday (Wednesday morning AEST) as hundreds protested the treatment of Henry Nowak in Southampton.

Police treatment of Nowak as he lay dying on the ground after being stabbed by a Sikh man – who lied to police saying the 18-year-old had racially abused and assaulted him – triggered debates about policing and knife crime. It spurred claims by far-right activists and politicians that there was bias against white people in the justice system. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded man as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him. Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced on Monday to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years in prison on Monday for stabbing Nowak to death outside a home in Southampton on December 3 last year.

Police responding to the incident arrested and handcuffed Nowak, who is seen in police bodycam footage released this week lying on the ground telling officers he has been stabbed and that he is having trouble breathing. They later called an ambulance and performed CPR. Court pathologists found that Nowak would have died of his injuries at the scene regardless of the emergency response. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood condemned the street violence as “completely unacceptable”, language echoed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder,” Mahmood said.

Nowak’s family called his treatment by police “inhumane and degrading” but said after the sentencing that his death should not be “used to create further division, hatred or tension”. But Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said on Tuesday that it was an example of so-called two-tier policing – a popular far-right talking point that claims ethnic minorities are better treated than white people. Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage” and said “white lives matter just as much as Black lives” prompting Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch to accuse him of “whipping up” tensions by “dividing people on racial lines”. X owner Elon Musk and British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson – who was released last year after serving seven months in prison for contempt of court after refusing to stop repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee – have also expressed outrage at the crime.

Mahmood on Tuesday said everyone was equal before the law, and urged people to wait for the outcome of an independent investigation into the Nowak incident. But the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it was already reviewing guidance, which under the Police Race Action Plan, advises officers not to be “colour blind” in their approach and to treat ethnicities differently. “It’s right that it should be reviewed,” Policing Minister Sarah Jones told Sky News, adding that in its current form the document was “wrong”. Starmer said on Wednesday that the case had left “serious questions to answer, including how accusations of racism informed police thinking”. Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon said he understood the “desire for answers and accountability.” “But that must be done in the right way and not used as an excuse to threaten and intimidate my officers and bring violence to our streets, causing fear and harm to those living and working in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,” he said.