Six additional individuals have been charged with violent disorder in Southampton following riots that erupted after the sentencing of Vickrum Digwa for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak. This brings the total number of people charged in connection with the disorder to 11.
Hampshire Constabulary named those charged as Kevin Reeves, 31, of Portswood Road; Andrew Riddett, 38, of Seacombe Green; Harry Varney, 34, of Briarswood; Taylor Grundy, 22, of Pavillion Way, Gosport; and Dillon Crawford, 29, of Wilton Avenue. Andrew Summerhayes, 38, of Banning Street, Romsey, faces additional charges of possessing an offensive weapon. All appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday.
The protests followed the sentencing of Digwa, 23, to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years for stabbing Nowak five times in December. Anger was fuelled by police bodycam footage showing Nowak handcuffed moments before he lost consciousness and died.
Disorder began after hundreds marched from the city centre to the neighbourhood where Digwa lived and Nowak died. Car windows were smashed and bricks strewn across roads. Chief Constable Alexis Boon reported 11 officers and a police dog were injured.
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addressed the crowd, which chanted slogans including “Racist police, off our streets”. However, Nowak's father, Mark Nowak, urged against using his son's death to create division, saying: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”
