UK interior minister condemns violent reaction to handcuffed student's death

LONDON - Britain's interior minister Shabana Mahmood condemned as "completely unacceptable" violent protests which broke out over the case of an 18-year-old who was handcuffed as he lay dying after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack.

The murder of student Henry Nowak last year has dominated headlines in Britain since the sentencing of his Sikh killer on Monday, with the footage of officers ignoring a dying innocent man sparking a political storm about how police treat different ethnicities.

Police chiefs said they would review guidelines which were drawn up in response to well-documented incidents of racism in policing, while the government denied ethnic minorities received favourable treatment, a much discussed topic online.

"There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder," Mahmood said, after protesters clashed with police last night in the port city of Southampton, close to where Nowak was killed, injuring 11 officers.

A further protest was planned outside parliament in London at midday (1100 GMT) on Wednesday.

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".

Court pathologists found that Nowak would have died of his injuries at the scene regardless of the emergency response. He was handcuffed by officers as he lay dying. They later called an ambulance and performed CPR.

POLICE TREATMENT HAS SPARKED ANGER ACROSS BRITAIN

Elon Musk, the U.S. billionaire who is a vocal critic of Britain's government, police, and anti-racism and diversity policies, has posted repeatedly about the case, saying on Tuesday: "Did you know that official police policy requires them to be racist against Whites?"

Musk, who had previously supported Nigel Farage, the populist leader of the anti-immigrant Reform Party, now endorses the more right-wing Restore, which could peel away some of Reform's vote in a local election later this month.

Farage called for "pure cold rage" over Nowak's murder, prompting Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, to accuse him of "whipping up" tensions by "dividing people on racial lines".

In recent years, the Reform leader, Musk and others on the right have argued that efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion among institutions such as the police, have created a two-tiered system where fears of being called racist have led to ethnic minorities being given greater protections than others.

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".

The guidelines were established after a 2023 review of the country's biggest police force, London's Metropolitan Police, found racism was still entrenched in its ranks, decades after a report in 1999 found it to be institutionally racist.

Hampshire Police has apologised over its handling of Nowak's death. One officer has resigned and that officer and three others were being treated as witnesses in the investigation.

In the attack last December, Nowak's killer Vickrum Digwa, 23, lied to police saying that Nowak had racially abused and assaulted him during a brief altercation in the street.

In police bodycam footage, Nowak is seen lying on the street saying "I've been stabbed" and "I can't breathe" as he's being handcuffed, while an officer responds "I don't think you have, mate".

Digwa was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.

Farage, whose party is leading in the polls, tried to draw parallels with the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the U.S., which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, contrasting it with what he said had been a muted response to the Nowak death. Floyd had said "I can't breathe" as a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

At Tuesday's protest, hundreds of protesters held signs saying "I Can't Breathe" and "All Lives Matter". Bottles and makeshift weapons were thrown at police, who arrested two and said more would follow.

"We're just here to show our respect to the guy that's had his life taken away so early," Barry Cox, an oil refinery worker, said. "It always seems to be two-tier policing in this country. Everybody's, well, we're just sick of it, we've had enough."

(Reporting by Sarah Young and Kate Holton, additional reporting by Muvija M and Marissa Davison: Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 4:17 AM.