The father of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old murdered in Southampton, has said Britain is becoming a ‘nation of anger and fear’ after far-right politicians across Europe exploited his son’s death for political gain. Despite pleas from the family to focus on tackling knife crime, populist figures from Poland, France, Spain and Japan have used the case to push anti-immigration and racist narratives.
Police footage showing Nowak’s final moments, during which he was handcuffed as he lay dying, has been widely shared online. His killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years after stabbing Nowak five times. Digwa had falsely claimed he was racially abused, a lie that police initially appeared to believe.
Polish far-right MEP Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik described Digwa as ‘an Indian’ and blamed ‘mass immigration’, saying the case ‘symbolises Britain’s descent into the depths of the earth’. French politician Éric Zemmour claimed the ‘immigrant perpetrator’ was protected by the ‘religion of anti-racism’, while Spain’s Santiago Abascal wrote that ‘the British people are burning with rage’.
In the UK, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggested the public should react with ‘pure, cold rage’ to police actions, accusing them of ‘two-tier policing’. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer criticised this, saying it was a ‘time for serious work, not rage’ and that there was ‘no justification for more violence and disorder’.
A former police officer, Christi Hill, was forced to flee to a safe space after being falsely accused online of involvement in the case. She criticised social media platforms, including Elon Musk’s Grok, for spreading the false claim. The attorney general’s office is reviewing Digwa’s sentence, which some have called unduly lenient.
