UK: Protest erupts over student murder

Demonstrators clashed with police in the southern English city of Southampton on Tuesday while protesting at what they said was an example of anti-white policing in the case of a student killed in December.

Protesters threw stones and other missiles at police in clashes close to the site where 18-year-old Henry Nowak died of his wounds while handcuffed by police after his killer, a Sikh man, accused the victim of racist abuse.

The protest, attended by far-right activist Tommy Robinson , came after the killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years in prison on Monday.

Hundreds of protesters first gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station, with violence breaking out after many of them walked to the area of Portswood where the murder occurred.

Riot police there were forced to retreat from the line they were holding as they were pelted with chairs, rocks and flares, with demonstrators chanting "Henry, Henry."

The murder has aroused a heated debate in the UK on policing, race and knife crime in the UK.

Unrest has been additionally fueled by the release of a video showing police initially disbelieving Nowak's statements that he had been stabbed.

Body cam footage of the incident on December 3, 2025, shows Nowak lying on the ground in handcuffs repeatedly saying: "I've been stabbed," to which an officer replies: "Don't think you have, mate."