'It's unacceptable!' Anti-knife crime campaigner left 'shocked' at Henry Nowak arrest after police apology

Anti-knife crime campaigner Ken Hinds has expressed his "shock" and "sadness" over the case of murdered teen Henry Nowak, following a public apology from police.

Speaking to GB News, the Chair of Communities Against Violence said it should have been "second nature" to check Mr Nowak for stab wounds after repeatedly telling police what had happened to him in Southampton.

Hampshire Police have referred themselves to the Independent Office of Police Conduct after it emerged officers handcuffed Mr Nowak as he repeatedly told them he had been stabbed by Vickrum Digwa and consequently bled to death.

Issuing a public apology, Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France of Hampshire Constabulary said: "I’m sorry that Henry’s life couldn’t be saved that night, and I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness.

"When his killer made that call to the police, and he called the police, not the ambulance service, he lied on that call. He lied when police attended the scene. He continued to lie as Henry’s condition deteriorated."

Discussing the case with GB News, Mr Hinds expressed his disbelief at the conduct of the police officers during the incident.

He said: "It absolutely should be second nature to check the person over, because it's first of all about the safety of any individual in that circumstance.

"So I'm totally shocked and saddened, and I would like to send my condolences out to the family and friends of the young man who was wrongly handcuffed accused of racially profiling and racially attacking the the perpetrator."

Mr Hinds argued the police should "always be on the side of a person who is injured".

He added: "Police training should always be on the side of a person who says they're injured. They first of all should say make sure that the person is or is not. Satisfy themselves before putting them into handcuffs.

"But to put him into handcuffs when he's taking his dying breaths is unacceptable."

Mr Hinds was questioned on whether he believes the police officers were "more concerned about potential racist abuse" rather than a stab injury.

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Mr Hinds agreed: "It would appear so, and wrongfully so, because even in the scheme of things, if a person said that there was racial abuse and if someone else is telling them that they've been stabbed, I would err on the side of making sure that the person who said they were stabbed was treated or at least gone over.

"Just take a look over him to make sure that if he was stabbed, to give him the necessary first aid treatment. But in this case, it seems like they've already had made up their mind that because the person in this case was a Sikh."

The anti-knife crime campaigner told GB News: "And they're not really known to commit such crime, Sikhs, so they went on that side of things instead of using common sense and treating the young victim who unfortunately died in the circumstances."

Questioned by host Mark White on whether he believes it is "just an instinct now" of police officers to "believe what an individual says if they claim to have been racially abused", Mr Hinds made clear it was a case of making the "wrong call" in the moment.

He concluded: "I don't believe so. I believe in this case it was just the individual officers who made the wrong call. In this case, it was a tragic, wrong call by those officers, and they need to be held accountable for the inaction or the bad call."

An IOPC spokesman said: "Our thoughts and sympathies are with Henry Nowak’s family and everyone affected by his death.

"We are independently investigating the contact Hampshire and Isle of Wight officers had with Mr Nowak prior to his death on December 4, including the use of handcuffs by officers and the first aid provided.

"Our investigation, which began following a mandatory referral from the force that we received the same day, remains ongoing and the officers involved are currently being treated as witnesses."

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