Labour MP and former police officer Jonathan Hinder has condemned the actions of police responding to the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak in an impassioned response.
18-year-old Nowak was stabbed to death by Vickrum Digwa, 23, in Southampton in December last year whilst he was walking home alone after a night out.
Digwa used a 21cm (8in) blade he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith, called a Kirpan, and this week was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years over the stabbing.
The case has attracted particular controversy though over the response of police. When police arrived at the scene, they handcuffed Nowak as he lay dying after Digwa claimed he had been racially abused by the teen and had acted in self-defence.
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Body cam footage shows Nowak telling officers he has been stabbed and “can’t breathe” multiple times. His comments are seemingly dismissed by officers before he becomes unresponsive after a couple of minutes.
Hampshire police has apologised and the force’s Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones described the incident as a “national tragedy”.
The case has sparked fury from across the political spectrum, but it’s useful to note the different ways some politicians are choosing to voice their rightful anger at the shocking incident.
Whilst Nigel Farage has decided to peddle lines about ‘white lives matter’ and claims of a ‘two-tier culture’ the UK, others have taken a more measure but equally powerful tone.
This was shown by Labour MP Jonathan Hinder during an appearance on Newsnight this week.
When asked if he could understand the actions of police towards Nowak, the Pendle and Cltheroe MP, who served in the police from 2013 to 2022, said they were “unfathomable.”
He explained: “If you are presented with a situation like that as a police officer, we have emergency life support training which should be deployed immediately in those circumstances, you should be treating it as a medical emergency if someone is telling you those things, repeatedly.
“Crucially, they are not a threat, so the use of the handcuffs [on Nowak] is just impossible to explain.”
Acknowledging the details about Digwa lying to police about what had happened, Hinder said he had sympathy for officers who turn up to a situation where they don’t know who is telling the truth.
But he reiterated that Nowak’s comments that he had been stabbed should have been immediately listened to by officers and first aid should have been administered.
“Try and save their life,” he said. “The most troubling thing about that video for me was the apparent indifference, the casual nature with which he says ‘I don’t think you have mate.’ It’s really upsetting to here.
“I think police officers and former police officers like myself across the country will be as upset as anyone watching that footage.”
Sharing the clip on X, journalist Aaron Bastani praised Hinder’s response as “candid and useful.”
Hinder received praise from several others for his words as well.