Henry Nowak: ‘Our cars were smashed as our kids slept upstairs’: Terrified Southampton residents on the night rioters rocked their suburb

HESophie Martin clears a stray brick from her driveway on St Denys Road in Southampton. On Tuesday night, as unrest reigned in the suburb, that brick was thrown through the rear windows of both of her parents’ cars, which were parked outside her home while her children slept inside.

She and her family clean the glass and debris from the backseats of their children’s car seats and put plastic covers over the broken glass. He was outside his home of 10 years in the Portswood neighborhood, where violent unrest broke out following a protest over police response to the killing of student Henry Nowak.

Video from the night Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa shows police handcuffing the 18-year-old as he lay on the ground after his killer falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist attack, despite his repeated insistence that he could not breathe. He died shortly after.

In footage captured by a body-worn camera of the incident in this part of Southampton last December, Mr Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying “I was stabbed” to which a police officer replies: “I don’t think you were stabbed, mate.”

On Monday Digwa was sentenced to at least 21 years in prison for stabbing Mr Nowak with a 21cm ceremonial knife.

Hundreds of people gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station on Tuesday for a demonstration led by far-right agitator Tommy Robinson before rioting broke out as a large group marched into Portswood. Demonstrators chanted “Henry, Henry” as bricks and other missiles were pelted at the police line. Chairs, cans, trash cans and flares were thrown at police in riot gear, and eventually officers and three police vans were forced to retreat from the line they were holding.

“Around seven-thirty or eight-thirty it started to get a little noisy,” said Miss Martin. Independent. “Then there was a riot; I’ll call it a riot. The police were literally in front of our garage. As you can see, our cars were crushed and our kids were upstairs sleeping. It was really scary.”

11 police officers and a police dog were injured as a result of missiles fired into this suburb of the city where families and students live. Two men were arrested for assaulting police and possessing a weapon, and Hampshire Police warned the number will rise as investigations into the incident continue.

Ms Martin said she was “horrified” as she witnessed the chaos outside her front door and feared for her children’s safety. “They pushed a burning garbage can into the police line. That was really scary. A big brick went through the back window of my car, so there was glass all over my car seats, my kids’ car seats, my bikes. Bricks, bottles, everything.”

“It was scary actually. It was all the noise; I think [items] crashed into police shields. Sitting in bed thinking, ‘Oh my God, when is he going to come through the living room window?’ we thought. “I really hope they don’t come back.”

Hampshire Chief Constable Alexis Boon said on Wednesday that those involved in the disorder were “determined to inflame fear and division”.

Issuing a warning against further unrest, he said: “What we, as a society, cannot accept is the violent scenes we saw in Southampton last night. Some clearly arrived intent on causing disorder and trouble. We saw bottles thrown, makeshift weapons used, damage caused to the homes and vehicles of innocent residents and threats and violence directed towards our officers.

People in Portswood tell Independent They met up early Wednesday morning to clean up. A house’s garden fence was replaced after it was destroyed by rebels. Most signs of disorder have since disappeared; Only a handful of beer bottles and discarded bricks remain, but scores of police officers and vehicles occasionally patrol the area to warn of any further signs of trouble.

A wall outside Portswood police station features a series of memorials paying tribute to Mr Nowak, as well as a sign bearing a British flag that reads “safety is a right, not a privilege”.

Sir Keir Starmer clashed with Nigel Farage at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, saying the UK Reform leader’s “call for outrage” in response to Mr Nowak’s murder was “inexcusable”.

The student’s killer, Digwa, 23, told police attending the stabbing that he was the victim of a racist attack, and Mr Farage has since argued there is “two tiers of policing” in the UK and officers are told to treat different ethnic groups differently. He had called on the public to respond with “pure cold anger”, and in the House of Commons on Wednesday Sir Keir Starmer highlighted the words of Mr Nowak’s father: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”

Sir Keir said: “These are the words of a grieving father who lost his son. I think these words resonate with people across the country. We must not allow this tragedy to be hijacked by anyone who seeks to divide us.”

This sentiment is shared by Dylan Harwood, 23, of Portswood. She witnessed Tuesday’s riot and said she now feels less safe in her home. Mr Harwood described what he saw: “We saw them all on the roofs here and on the electrical boxes, throwing things from there, including bricks. You’ll see bricks coming off the walls there and electric scooters being thrown at the riot police. It was a big group and quite a big situation.”

Mr Harwood said he understood the frustration felt by protesters but believed it had been expressed completely incorrectly.

“I live four houses down from where it happened,” he says. “I understand the frustration and the emotion. But I don’t think it’s right to just write it off as it is. I think there’s potentially a group of people who embrace this and take advantage of this opportunity.”

A group of 11 Sikh MPs said in a statement on Tuesday they stood in solidarity with Mr Nowak’s family following the “senseless and tragic” incident. “This case was about the murder of Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa. It was not about religion or racism,” a collective statement reads.

Among these MPs was Satvir Kaur, who represents the Southampton Test constituency, which includes this district. he says Independent He says “tension is high” in the city following the sentencing and the release of police footage, but urges people to come together in response to crime rather than turning on each other.

“One person’s terrible actions and crimes do not reflect on the entire society,” he says. “In this country, we don’t punish an entire community for the actions of one person. People who should be showing clear leadership are not, because instead of coming together and working to stop crime on our streets, they are using this moment to pit one community against another.”

“Concerns are rightfully being raised, but we need to remain calm, remain united and come together to ensure that we learn from what happened and ensure that something like this never happens again,” adds Ms. Kaur. “Violence, disorder and vandalism are never the solution.”