‘I can’t breathe’: Harrowing bodycam footage shows moment police dismiss Henry Nowak’s stabbing claim

Harrowing body camera footage shows the moment police rejected cries for help after student Henry Nowak was stabbed to death with a Sikh ceremonial knife.

The 18-year-old student died following a brutal knife attack by Vickrum Digwa on December 3, 2025, which included two stab wounds to the back of Nowak’s legs and a fatal wound to his heart.

In the newly released video, shot when police arrived at the scene, Digwa claims he was racially attacked by Nowak while his victim lay bleeding on the ground.

In the chilling footage, Nowak can be heard telling the police, “I was stabbed.” One replies: “I don’t think you have a partner.”

Officers later handcuffed Nowak and arrested him on suspicion of assault, while Digwa claims he suffered a black eye.

Nowak is then heard repeating: “I can’t breathe.” Police around him continue to deny that he was stabbed. He died shortly after.

The 18-year-old’s family said the police’s actions were “inhumane” and called the contrast between their treatment of Nowak and her killer “unbearable.”

Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years at Southampton Crown Court on Monday.

During his trial, he told jurors that he had been racially attacked by Nowak, whom he accused of punching him and knocking off his hijab.

She claimed she stabbed Nowak in the back of the legs in self-defense after Nowak threatened her and grabbed her by the hair, and said she did not realize at the time that she had caused the fatal stab wound in Nowak’s chest.

But prosecutors said the 23-year-old told police a “bad lie” and that Nowak did not racially attack him.

Digwa was filmed by his victim telling him: “I’m a bad man” moments before carrying out the fatal attack.

Police later apologized for handcuffing Nowak.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Mark Nowak said police had serious questions to answer about how his son was treated.

“Henry told officers nine times that he couldn’t breathe,” he said. “He told them he had been stabbed four times. Let me be absolutely clear. We hold Vikrum Digwa alone and 100 per cent responsible for the brutal murder of our son, but Henry should not have died in police custody on the streets of Southampton.”

“His treatment was inhumane and degrading. But his murderer was shown kindness. The difference is unbearable.”

In court on Monday, Mark Nowak broke down in tears as he read a victim impact statement to the court in which he described the family’s devastation over the loss of his “beautiful son.”

He said: “As a father it is my duty to protect my child and I failed to keep him safe, I wasn’t there when he needed me most, the thought of him bleeding to death on the road, scared, will haunt me forever.”

Henry’s mother, Lucy, described her son as “ambitious, determined and full of life”.

“He had his whole life ahead of him, and that future was brutally taken away from him,” he said.

“The impact of his loss has been devastating not only for me but for our entire family and everyone who knew him; we are learning to support each other through this unimaginable pain, but the pain is constant, our family will never be the same.”