Police wanted to release statement during trial of Henry Nowak’s killer – UK politics live

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The justice secretary, David Lammy, is being interviewed by the BBC and Sky News this morning and will likely be asked about the future of police reform in the wake of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.

The case has come under fresh scrutiny today with a report in the Sunday Times revealing that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary tried to intervene during the trial of Nowak’s killer but were warned by the Crown Prosecution Service it could jeopardise the case.

The police force wanted to release a statement to address what it described as online “disinformation” while court proceedings were at a critical point against Vickrum Digwa, according to the report.

It is understood the statement contained information about the process of a court case, reminded people that nothing could be published that could prejudice legal proceedings, and said that police would answer questions once the trial was complete.

double quotation mark 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.

However, it was made clear that whether a statement was released was ultimately a police operational decision.

Nowak, a first-year accountancy and finance student at the University of Southampton, was fatally stabbed in Southampton last December by Digwa, 23, after a night out with friends.

When police arrived at the murder scene, Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked his turban off. Nowak was handcuffed and arrested despite telling officers he had been stabbed and could not breathe.