Police Accountability and Public Debate

Hello there and welcome to Murtdermost British. I'm Zach Hi, I'm Rachael. Welcome. Well, today, we're heading to Southampton, where an eighteen year old university student was walking back to his student room after a night out with friends He was alone he was unarmed Before the night was over, Henry Novak be stopbed in the street. Well falsely being blamed by his killer He was handcuffed before anyone truly believed that he was dying. Oh, here we go That's what I'm talking about It is This one's a this one's a tough one really, unfortunately. Very much so. it's very much in the Well it's gone around the world, to be fair. Everybody is talking about this case notot just here in the UK all over So we wanted to bring you Yeah, there's a bit of kind of a rumor mill U, people saying things that aren't really true or they're half trues. Stuff like that, we just want to bring it the way it was from court records U news articles, all that good stuff. Yeah. So we've done the research so you don't have to. So anyways, it's a sad case U before we begin, If you enjoyed the episode, please give us a like, a subscribe on YouTube and follow the show and leave us a five star rating. that would be really helpful U whenever you listen, It generally helps others discover us on what we do This episode contains discussion of murder, knife violence, and distressing body cam footage or descriptions of that body backcam footage Some listeners may find this content distressing. So listener discretion is Very, very advised So now let's get to the story So on a December night in Southampton Henry Novak was walking home been out with new friends celebrating the end of his first semester at university It should have been an ordinary walk through Portswood after midnight But on Belmont Road, he crossed paths with a stranger carrying a blade A few words passed, then Henry's phone was taken Then The night turned By the time the police arrived, Henry was on the ground. trying to Tell them the truth But another story had reached them first and Henry Novak was dying Soir Henry Novak was just eighteen years old. from Chafford hundredundred in Essex. By December of twenty twenty five, he had only just begun the life that his family had hoped for him He was a first year student. at the University of Southampton stududying accountancy and Finance and the first in his family to actually go to university done brilliantly at school, settled quickly into student life and joined not one but two B teames So his family called him their kind, intelligent, and talented son He was warm Fny, careful, principled, ambitious, and full of promise The oldest of four children close to his siblings and especially close to his sister, Olivia. A few weeks earlier, his father Mark had helped him move into his university room. Henry had come a home for a family pantomime. and his mother remembered him on holiday in Greece beaming when he told her He had been offered a place at Southampton By December, that future had become real. A city, a course teammates. New friends and a room of his own No. That must be awesome. Yeah an awesome feeling. And being the first one to go to university in his family will be such a proud moment for his parents Yeah amazing. Definitely. He seems like a uch a lovely lad So on the evening of the third of december of twenty twenty five, Henry went out with his new football teammates, celebrating the end of their first semester at university He had consumed just a small amount of alcohol over several hours. He was not a regular heava drink car, so he wasn't drunk. His blood alcohol level was below the legal limit for driving, so just a small amount By the time that he started walking back towards his student room The knight should have been winding down May his route back took him north along Belmont Road towards the junction with St. Denny's Road an ordinary residential street and quiet at that hour Well, Coming the other way was Vikram Singh Digwa He was twenty two years old and lived nearby with his family on St. Dennis Road He later said he had been walking to fetch curried chips from a car when he met Henry He was also carrying a large sik dagger in a sheath attached to a belt over the outside of his clothing as well as a smaller curpan around his neck Digwa was associated with the Nihang tradition where a second curpen may be carried and worn visibly But the larger blade he carried that night had a twenty one centimeter blade or just over eight inches long Visible. accessible and capable of catastrophic damage The two men passed each other on Belmont Road Henry saw the blade And for an's sake, stududent or anybody really for that matter. it would have been an unusual thing to see on Southampton Pigment late at night A large sheaved dagger worn openly by a stranger Now On Henry's phone footage, he could be heard saying Hell out call singing to himself I'm not gonna to sing, by the way and yawning before the video cut to dig while walking away Then Henry asked him if he was a bad man. Yeah, that would be weird seeing someone just carry carry especially here in to be fair. Yeah, I think a lot of Seeks they hide it, it's not openly like visible. I think a lot of them do actually just wear it under the clothes. So it being on show is something that you it's not really going to be. We don't really see that often to be there. Yeah, yeah, pretty weird Um It may have been cheeky It may have been a bit unwise But it was not a threat. Henry was not hunting for trouble. Digwa moved towards him and answered in kind tellelling Henry that he was a bad man It might have sounded childish if not for the blade Then Digwis grabbed Henry's phone and took it from him That changed the encounter Our phones carry our whole lives now And when someone snatches it, out of your hand. And when it just really feels like, oh, they're taking my life away from me really. You got your bank cards, everything Your instincts will take over and you reach for it. A struggle appears to have followed that. and Digwis's turban may have been knocked, pulled, or punched off from his head And for a sih man That would be a serious act of disrespect. But even serious disrespect has a boundary. can explain anger. It can explain humiliation. cannot turn an unarmed man into a mortal threat simply because a blade is close enough to draw Now, Digwa could have stepped back He could have kept the dagger in his sheath he could have Let the phone go shouted, walked away, called someone ve done almost anything Ese Well, inststead of doing any of those things, digwis drove the blade into Henry's chest wards through layers of clothing and into the tissue underneath passed between Henry's upper ribs caught a lung cut an important vein behind his collarbone The wound went eight centimeters deep inside Henry's chest And blood began filling the space around his lung where the chest wound was fatal But it was not the only injury Henry was stabbed twice. to the upper legs. and slashed across the face once to the lower abdomen and or grow in area One or more of those wounds took effect almost immediately He could no longer properly raise his hands protect himself By then This was not a fight between two men Henry was defenseless. Still, he tried to get away climbed onto a communal bin G Got over a fence and landed on a car in front of the property next door bloodstains showed he was already wounded before he made that made it that poor I just don't understand how it could get that far so quickly over something so silly. It definitely escalated. in an extremely quick way and I mean, I him to be injured in that way quite so severely and be able to make it over a fence and, you know, the strength that he would had to you know, But, you know, I that. I can understand, you know, hey, someone disrespects you or whatever, but Well, whatever happen to, you know, like sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Yeah It' like my mom just me that one It's like, come on, you know, just because someone says something doesn't mean that you got to turn around and get your knife out. Yeah. That's so crazy Henry was not showing that he was a threat to this person And this person knowing that he had this Pan sword knipe He had the upper hand the whole time. Yeah, just even knowing that he has that on him to defend himself U and knowing that Henry had seen that he own has this on him I'm sure. But it wasn't even But it wasn't even to defend himself. No He went on the offense and just Lashed out at ye. that's so crazy, man Anyways Digwa's brother, Gerpreit. arrived very shortly after the attack had finished By then the truth had already being warped Instead of calling for help and saying Henry had been stabbed Digois began filming him He filmed Henry trying to get away he filmed him suffering He Henry was not treated like a dying teenager He was treated like A scene Diguis wanted to control Lo Absolutely vile. Well, Henry knew that he had been stabbed Blood was collecting inside his chest breathing was becoming harder Digwa denied what he'd done He told Henry it had not happened claimed he had been attacked and when Grie asked whether racism had been involved falsely claiming that Henry had used a racist slur against him So more of Digua's family arrived at the scene His mother and father were there, and Gprie spoke to the emergency call handler, while describing his brother as the victim He said, quote We're Sihs. We wear a turban and he's just attacked my brother He also said they were restraining Henry, adding canan't let him go until he's this gets sorted The call did not describe a dying teenager in urgent need of help It described an accusation Gurpri said no weapons had been involved. When he's asked what weapons Henry might have seen, he said, quote I don't know what weapons he would have seen or when officers arrived at eleven thirty seven PM The same fth story continontued Digwa complained of an injured eye insisted that he had been attacked and disputed that he had used a knife Henry was on the ground wounded and still trying to tell people the truth with whatever breath that he had left He tried to push back against the story being told around him The first version that police had been given Well, it wasn't Henry's Every we stick bars Okay Neighbors had already heard Henry saying he had been stabbed and was dying That was why police had been called But when the body cam footage began Henry was still fighting to be believed He said, I've been stabbed. At one point, an officer replied, quote Don't think you have, mate. Henry could also be heard saying, I can't breathe According to court reporting, before he went silent, he said Please, brother I can't breathe But the officers were standing inside the lie that Diga had made for them Dop Henry was wearing a dark top. fatal wound was not obvious through the clothing And the scale of the internal bleeding could not be seen The wound to Henry's face was visible But it was not the wound that was killing him. So the wrong person was treated as the immediate suspect Henry was turned ono his side His hands were taken behind his back The handcuffs went on For about a minute, he lay handcuffed on the ground after telling police he had been stabbed and could not breathe Then his condition deteriorated further Henry became unresponsive An officer told him he was under arrest for assault. And then he cautioned him God, this is just rough So the body cam and everything and him telling him. telling the c, hey, I'm hurt.m What are you doing? I'm hurt you know, and They just drag him out ee this is where conversation has really kind of kicked up because Well And rightly so, because I agree, in my opinion So the police officers, as soon as I get that they've been called out on a certain You know Clim basically. anybody is laying on the floor saying they can't breathe and they've been stabbed. You check You know, it's take Pl minutes. to just check them Iver, say, okay, we've not found any st maybe, you know somethingomet else happened, you tripped and just winded yourself or whatever. You check, the placeice should check. say But he was heard saying but he was also numerous times on the ground and hes and he's You can hear stressed. and your first instinct is just to turn him over and handcuff him. and that that's It doesn't like I can understand police police procedure saying Hey, you know, this person has done something wrong We need to secure them because we don't want them to fight. We don't want them to be able to get up and run away. He could be Um Faking it in some way to frust sure many people out there that have faked it in the past but Yeah, ye. there must be first and foremost duty of care to both people, the person accusing and the person that they've come across that is laying on the floor claiming to have been stabbed and He said it on numerous times you You know, it wasn't just once, numerous There was nine nine times he said onene thing Four times he said another thing They didn't believe him Yeah, because he said Yeahah 'causeuse he said he couldn't he couldn't breathe. Nine times. Yeah, that's what it was And then four times he had been stabbed and stabed If you watch the footage, you will see that and hear that. U, but I think B Any bday we would want You know in an ideal situation F Check If someone's claiming something as serious as that Within three minutes of the police arriving They realized that something was badly wrong Handcuffs were removed and an ambulance was called. CPR began The scene changed from control to emergency It could not change. what the blade had already done One officer realizing the seriousness of the chest wound while trying to save Henry were shocked. The story that they had forgiven collapsed Well, the medical reality was brutal blade had cut a vital vein behind Henry's collarbone. the uh blood had poured into his chest cavity. The pathologist later found twelve hundred milliliters there moreore than two pints. No emergency treatment at the scene could have reached that bleeding vein No first aid No CPR and no fast expert care could have saved him. Henry Novak was pronounced dead at the scene twelve thirty seven AM onn the fourth of December of twenty twenty five The first problem was the weapon. Police had been told that no weapons had been involved, but Henry's injuries made that impossible to believe blade had been used, but it was no longer at the scene While Gerrie was still speaking to nine hundred ninetine nine Digwa had told his mother Kiran Kawa to take the dagger away She left Belmont Road with it along with the sheaf and the bill The Cower was arrested nearby, and when police later searched the family home, they found the knife It was not alone More than twenty other weapons were also recovered from the address. The forensic work then linked the weapon. killing and the attempted cover upp The Bood and fatty tissue on the blade matched Henry. Hirs from Digwa were found on the weapon And Cowower's DNA was identified on the sheath So Digwa was arrested and taken into custody at the scene Henry's phone was still with him found in Digwa's pocket H taking it during the confrontation kept hold of it afterwards and had not offered it to the place But when offic is examined the phone, they found something more important than the device itself The record in from the beginning of the encounter Henry was filming Digwa was visible. And the Bad manan exchange had been captured before the violence began Excellent. that's a an amazing piece to show Okay This is what happened This is what happened beforehand. Yeah began. So no matter what story he's going to tell, That's that Yeah But also it gives the police a good question. you know, why have you got this boy's phone You know, what are you doing with this this lad's phone? you know? It's like, well did you pick it up? Explain that Yeah. exxplain why you have it in your pocket. you know, didid you did you fall over and you picked it up or what's what's going on here V V sus Well, that recording cut into the picture that Digua had tried to create He had it tried to cast Henry as a drunk racist who had been aggressive and threatening The footage did not show Henry threatening him in that moment It showed a foolish cheeky remark From a young student reacting to a visible blade, Henry's blood alcohol level was below the drink drive limit And Henry's own recording was already pushing back against the story told about him Then came the covert recording By the fifth of December, police needed court permission to keep questioning Digwa in custody So he and Gerprie were transported for that process. On the journey, officers secretly recorded the conversation Soke in Punjabi Away from Belmont Road, away from the public performance and away from the officers at the scene, the story changed Oh, we just been If we just speak forjabi there They'll never go overseas. the thing. I mean, you know, they will just Get an interpreter to let them know what you've said. Yeah. This is another thing that because I think You know when you go into a shop and you've got like a French person or whatever and they're speaking their language and I'm like And then they glance at you and I think, arere they talking about me? L you know Yeah I mean, come on good idea for the police to record their conversation and actually because I think a lot of foreign people do that like that I mean you're foreign, obviously being American, but I sure I don't speak English, but When a different, you know, Polish or anybody swed someone from Sweden when they talks their own language They think that people ain't going never know what they're saying, but ye I do speak English, but sometimes it's Hilbilly English Yeah. Okay, so about the recording. Yes, though in the recording, the brothers discussed a self defense story Digguis agreed to pretend he had acted to protect himself even as he admitted stabbing Henry three times, including once in the chest with the dagger Then he said something even more revealing If there were cameras in that part of Belmont Road He would not be able forward a self defense. It was not the voice of a man certain of the truth It was the voice of a man calculating Pved Gross horrendous But, you know, we see it in many cases, people do try to just story. you know, they tried to yeah bend it so far to where I mean, I'm surprised he didn't even say, Ohh, well, I've only just arrived to the scene. you know, I don't know this, you know, what's happened blah blah blah that it's yeah. I'm going I got to come up with something They're going they're going to nail me for this one because They're going to come up with a story. they always do. and then Please go Well, what about this? Yeah. And what about this This where Iate. Obviously there's a lot of a lot at the moment around this case Some of the officers obviously didn't act in the way that we all would have liked them to. with' check in his injury or checkking for injuries Um when Henry said that he had been stabbed and that he could brahe. that There are police out there that do a good job, you know? So at the end of the day, we do have to recognize that much as there is some you know, really useless police out there there are some really good ones too.. In formal policent interviews, Diggois did not answer questions about the incident On the seventh of december of twenty twenty five, he made a written statement Now later, one criminal proceedings was underway And he made another statement He made another statement developing and modifying the account again The story did not stay still. It shifted as the evidence closed in around him Yeah, as it does because you go Oh They've got this on me. Okay, what do I do now? Okay well, this shifts here. If you're telling the truth, It never changed. No, it won't. it won't ever change. It might define certain aspects. But it's never going to just fundamentally change and branch off into another story. It's just going to be like, okay, well add a detail to it. And this is where you can tell whether someone's lying or not, you know, if they if you ask them and question them about a specific thing And you know, then you go back and you ask them a couple of days later. They say the same thing that they said in the first place. It's true. Pople know? More more than likeankly Well, okay So the murder investigation and the police watchdog inquiry Now moved on separate tracks. okay? So detectives had built their case around what Digwis Done. Wh he had hidden and what he had said when he thought On his brother could hear him The IOPC would later examine the officer's conduct with Henry. for the criminal case The lie had reached the end of the road But by the time the file was ready for court Stigwise account had been tested from every direction The story he tried to build around Henry could not survive the evidence Not the missing blade, not the phone, not the recording in custody, not even Henry's own words from the ground Henry had not been the attacker Digwa claimed that he was He was the victim By the time the case reached Southampton Crown Court The central question was simple. Vikrom Diggois did not deny that Henry Novak was dead But he denied the murder. He denied manslaughter. and the possession of a blated article in public His defense was self defense He claimed Henry had been drunk, aggressive and racist dangerous enough to make him fear that his own blade be used against him So Diga told the jury that he had been walking to fetch courage chips from a car when he met Henry. He claimed Henry seemed drunk barged into him, filmed him and used a racist insult. punched him and pulled off his turbine and then threatened to kill him. core of his defense I thought I had to do something because I was afraid that he was going to stab me with my own capan He said he had not meant to stab Henry in the chest W the prosecution rejected that account completely Nicholas Laubenberg KaseC described Digois as a man with a weapons obsession pointing to his weapons training, the arsenal of weapons in his bedroom, and searches for weapons on his phone The crown said, This was not a desperate act of self defense It was a sustained attack on an unarmed man. followed by a false story that painted Henry as drunk, racist and violent Well, the religious element was handled in court, but the prosecution insisted it was not the real issue Digwar's defense said that he'd carried the blade as part of his faith Crow said that he had chosen to carry a much larger blade in public and then chose to use it. In closing Lobenberg told jurors It is not a case about Sikhism It is not a case about racism It's a case about Murder Yeah, that's one of the things I would say is that that Sikhism is not on trial this asshole. is on trial is an arshole. Yes. that that's Yeah, I think that this past sort of week There's been a lot in um in the news, you know, footed, right everythingvery was kicking off. peopleeople do need to remember that We've had a long history with Sikhs living here in the UK. countries And they are a lovely bunch of people U We've never, I've not actually. I was watching a U an interv for you earlier. and you know, from a stak person and There is not one case where somebody has done anything like this in the name of their faith. So You know, please please remember that uh no, that seeks ube. have integrated really well in the communities. Um And I don't think that this There's because there's always going to be some sort of outlier There's always going to be a case of somebody outside of, you know that does something just so horrific And and it peopleeople will come up and go, oh, well Well we need to go after these people just it's like, well, you can't p everyone with the same brush. Yeah. You know, it's like, you know when if you look at the statistics, okay Most serial killers are white? And this is the thing. peopleeople need to remember, you know, not all white people were are serial killers. Ely. Exactly. So, you know, do you anybody out there that is, you know Thinking along those lines, it do not take out on the Sikh community because it really is It's horrendous what he's done But it is not the whole secret. It is on them it' on that him and him alone Yeah. Well, okay, so here in Cower Digwa's mother was tried alongside of him. She denied assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene, and she did not give evidence during the trial Her barrister argued she was distressed and uninformed and had placed the item among religious objects at home rather than deliberately hiding it for the jury. The question was whether she had helped conceal what her son had done after Henry was attacked Well, on the twenty eighth of may of twenty twenty six, after a two and a half week trial. The jury rejected Diggrois's account. rim Diggis was found guilty of murder and possession of a bladed arkle in a public area. Kiran Kawa was found guilty of assisting an offender As the verdicts were read Digwis showed little emotion, gazed out into the courtroom. Behind them, sobs were heard from the public gallery So sentencing took place on the first of June of twenty twenty six And South Hampton Crown Court was packed. with more than sixty people in courtroom six Members of both families were there along with friends, journalists, lawyers, and court staff Diguwa arrived wearing a dark suit and tie with a purple turban and sat in the glass fronted dock near two uniformed security guards beforefore the sentence came Henry's family Well Henry's father, Mark Novak sppoke of being tormented by thoughts of Henry's final moments. He said, quote I couldn't help Henry in his final moments and there is nothing I can do to bring him back He describes sitting in the mor tree Hold in Henry's hand the same hand that he held when he was born. Then with his voice breaking He spoke directly to his son to my dying son who I love beyond words I am so sorry that I let this happen Henry's mother, Lucy Ross, described Henry as ambitious, determined and full of life A messy sod and always hungry. Isn't this gracious? We know a lot of young lads like that. Our foster boy downstairs is always. He's very messy. And he's always hungry. ye. Yeah just It's just horrowing That really struck me because this like he he went there to hold his hand and he remembered halting his hand you know, when he was a baby and it just to be fair for this parents of Henry I have a daughter that's twenty one and It only feels like yesterday she was like five, you know. And I just from one parent to another My heart is with you. Yeah, that that would I mean, I can only imagine that kill like that'd kill me to have to do something like that. Of. Okay Now let's move on. We're getting a bit emotional here. We won't be able to get through the rest of the case. so Henry's stepmother, Katie spoke about telling Henry's ten year old brother he was dead She said, raw, unfiltered sobs echoed through the house. Later when the family cleared out Henry's university room They found his advent calendar with only the first three doors open That is unusual for like Yeah, our daughter, she used to eat them all in one day, didn't Yeah So Well, she said, that broke me Olivia, Henry's sister, spoke directly to Digwa. If you had known him You would never 've heard him Henry's stepfather directly challenged the portrait Diggois had tried to paint He said Henry quote would not tolerate racism, sexism, or bullying and that he treated people with respect and kindness After a trial in which Henry had been accused of racist abuse He could no longer deny Those words mad They were not only triribiate They were a defense of Henry's name When Judge William Mosley Casey began his sentencing remarks, He turned first to Henry, describing him as a much loved kindind H working and ambitious young man Then he told Digward directly You Vikrim Diggwis murdered him He said Diguis had robbed Henry of all those he loved all the things he cared about and liked to do and had brought misery and a lifetime of loss upon Henry's family Well, the judge also rejected the lie that had followed Henry from Belmont Road into the courtroom. On the racism allegation, he was blunt quite I am sure that Henry said nothing racist He added You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character The judge also addressed what happened after the stabbing Dikwa had shown a quote callous disregard for Henry's wellbeing filmed him running away and lying there injured and tried to cover up what he had done The judge said he had abused the privilege extended to Sikhs to carry a knife in public for religious reasons dishonored his religion and put others at risk of repercussions The prosecution had argued for a twenty five year starting point But then the judge began at fifteen years But then he increased it because of the violence, the filming, the cover up blame placed on Henry The wider impact and the way that Digwar's lies shaped the police response He then reduced the term for Digwa's age. his lack of previous convictions and the absence of premeditation But there were no other mitigating factors. twenty five to life. Do it. You like America I always say, you know, life should be life to be fair I think there are mitigating like we've said this before in previous episodes, there are mitigating circumstances with you know, but The way he went about this murder and the way he did it enacted That's a twenty five to life. At the end of the day, no premeditation, okay, fair enough He resorted to killing this boy You know, it wasn't just one little stab U, you know, in a place that wasn't fatal enough or It stabbed him five times. He recorded. He was so callous. and disgusting that Yeah, there should be I mean, maybe is long maybe the first stab was out of anger, he was disrespected,, you know, whatever But then he continued to do so and his actions afterwards, That was a sort of premeditation in my mind. he was thinking about I was like, oh shit Okay, I got to cover this up now blah, blah, blah Yo D, come on more than more than what he got Yeah Okay, so Digois was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty years. and one hundred and ninety days before he could be considered for release On the weapons charge, he received two years to run concurrently Kure on Cower His mother was sentenced, H sentencing was delayed, you know, after this and was set for the seventeenth of July. But the courtroom did not empty quietly. After Digwis was led down from the dock, voices were raised between people connected to both sides Criise of stop, stop could be heard and fourteen police officers were later seen in the foyer I mean, I know that they have to, you know, you have to have a lot of decorum in courtrooms, but Yeah. I I personally think that I could not say or shout something or, you know be because it's probably the only time that the family be able to say something but But I think you're also like there's so much emotion. there's so much like you're just so much hard at once and sness. Yeah, I think there's some of it's like you're You're happy that you got the result But then you're sad ' another life has gone down the fucking shitter Yeah, you know, like , you know No matter what he did, he threw his hook, he threw his life away Yeah, yes, yes. you're absolutely right. The whole I think that's the thing that I took from this case is Henry were one of the things Henry's death. Absolutely. there was no reason for it. soever So after the court case had been finalized and the sentencing was done Digar anyway, not his mum. Um There were still legal questions moving in the background The atttorney General's office had confirmed that it had received multiple requests to review Digois's sentence under the unduly lenient sentence scheme Giving law officers twenty eight days from sentencing to decide whether The case should go to the Court of Aeal. The day after sentencing Digwa was also appeared at Southampton Magistrateates's Court with his father and brother. on separate weapons charges linked to items allegedly recovered in later police searches. Now those matters were separate from the murder conviction and had not yet been decided. For Henry's family The most painful unanswered questions were not about courts, charges or appeals They were about Belmont Road. New Hampshire and Isle of Whitestabulary had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police coonduct or the IOPC After Henry's death And the watchdog confirmed it was examining officers contact with Henry before he died. included the use of handcuffs The first aid given and the decisions made while Henry was on the ground saying he had been stabbed. saying he could not breathe and still trying to be believed So after the verdict, temporary deputy ch Chief Constable Robert France apologized publicly He described the scene as extremely complex But he also said something that cut straight through to the heart family's anger. is like don't want to hide the facts I want people to understand the f facts He said the force would look at officer training, particularly first aid training and added We should always listen to someone who is telling us they are injured Yes, you should. one hundred percent, my friend, one hundred percent Well, the bony Cam footage was released with the family's permission. became the image many people would remember Henry on the ground, injured, and disbelieved whileile Digwa's false story still hung over him Donna Jones, the police and Crime commissioner, called his death a national tragedy and harrowing She said Henry had been falsely accused of racially aggravated assault while he lay dying And that the handcuffing formed part of Digwas cruel intentions to frame himself as the victim outside court Henry's father Novak was careful about where he placed responsibility Let me be absolutely clear, he said. We hold Vicram Digis solely and one hundred percent responsible for the brutal murder of our son That did not erase what happened after the stabbing Mark said Henry should not have died in police custody. and that he lost consciousness before anyone believed him Yeah, I think that was the the hardest part is when someone is likeike is that. there there's no comfort There's no one saying, It's okay, man. I'm here for you. I'm you know, we're going to take care of you And that's just so heartbreaking. St That is the most heartbreaking thing. what I don't it's the losing him, you know, him being murdered is heartbreaking just as much as it is Um him not receiving that dignity, the care, the and sympathy Yeah and being coughed as he died You know, it' just beyond belief Yeah. Listen it's tough. It's tough to watch.' it made me cry. I cried. Yeah and I he every parent that watches that. But anybody like I would not want to see anybody like that at all You'd want comfort Well, okay, sory I'm getting a bit m We need to move along. Yeah. Well, that was what remained after the trial Henry was told people what happened Neighbors had heard him saying he had been stabbed He had said he could not breathe And still, for those first crucial minutes The story around him belonged to someone else. The Mark said Digois was afforded decency and he was believed As far as the family understood, Digwa was not handcuffed when he was arrested. not handcuffed when he was transported And it was even taken to the kitchen while under arrest So he could choose his food this contrast is unbearable said Yeah, good Godard. that is I mean that is just horre This whole case Everything that happened to Henry Afterwards It' horrendous You know, they they clearly for taking, you know, they they realized too late but they realized that Henry had been injured. reallyly and Did they not think? Digois was the possible suspect. But even if he but even if he was detained. It's like, hey, you're being detained under, you know, just saying, hey, We need to figure out what's going on. you need to be detained. you handcuff him and secure them. In most cases, I think, you know, that's the protocol. You know, if there's been a incident, even whether it's, you know, it's initially Verble claim that it was a verbal incident Yeah. If you then come to find that there is somebody that's injured on the floor You would detame the other person. Oh the people' involved in this suspected incident. The people around him, they're getting they're getting detained, man. It's like we need to figure out what theug's going on here. Yeah. you're all. I mean, what would they do in America Yeah, there everyone's everyveryone's disained, man. Yeah Simple it just makes belief like the incompetence the police that evening Well, the family's anger was not vague and it was not arrived at everyone who worked on the case thanks the murder invvestigation team The family liaison officices and the legal team who helped to cure justice for Henry. The Fury was focused on Henry's final minutes. and on the question that still sat at the centre of everything Why had his own words not been enough? Well, the family called for a full fearless and transparent investigation into the police handling of Henry's murder. Mark said they were calling on the Home Secretary to make sure that the IOPC had the resources the authority and independence that it needed Then he said, quote Our family should not have to fight for the truth anymore It was a devastating line because the trial had already proved how much Henry's family had been forced to fight not only for justice for Henry's name Henry's character. and Henry's final words Well as anger spread beyond the courtroom, Henry's family were also clear about what they did not want Henry's father Mark also said We do not want his death to be used to create Further division, hatred or tension We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone Now that mattered Henry had been falsely cast as a racist by the man who killed him His family did not want another false story growing out of his de The fight was for truth accountability and change. Not for Henry to be dragged into someone else's hatred Well, the case had already pushed a wider debate into public view Donna Jones said she had written to the Prime mininister himself calling for an urgent review of laws around carrying blated articles for religious and ceremonial purposes. Mark Novak called knife crime a national emergency and said People should not be able to walk openly Through the streets of Britain, carrying a twenty one centimeter blade For Henry's family, the argument began with something painfully simple The blade had been carried openly through a British street and Henry had never But that debate had another side and it could not be ignored The judge said Diguois's actions had stirred racial tension and made many Sikhs worried about their safety. Even though done nothing wrong The Sikh community representivative said people in the wider community had faced abuse and hate during the case bind dit Singh from the Sikh Federation, said the community felt demonized and asked why Sikhs were being targeted for the actions of one man. Well, Sing was clear This is not about the Sikh community and its religion. This is about one individual The Sikh Federation said that if a curpan or bladed item is used aggressively in violence, It ceases to be a cur pen It becomes an offensive weapon It also argued that the large blade used by Digwa was not the normal kerpan worn by fully practicing Sikhs The CPS also a different had a different view on this one So they said that Digwis had chosen to carry two blated articles and that the judge's findings agreed with its assessment that the larger blade was a kpan he chose. to use. Yeah, many they just have like a little O on a pend like a pendant style one, don't they? yeah. M, like you know, I kind of think of it like the, you know, for Christians the cross, you know, you know, wearing the cross cross And' saying, hey, you know, I'm I'm you know, observing my faith, you know? I don't think it the faith states that you have to have, you know, a certain size capn, you know, I think as long as you have a symbol. He was following a certain sort of I did read that actually, yeah, there too Um, but But with articles of faith, You know, they're they're meant to protect They're meant to that's that's the symbol of is protecting people,, you know, protecting against injustice, protecting, you know, the the people that can't protect themselves. and it was used in a way that someone who couldn't protect themselves against his knife But it takes me back to what I said earlier, you know, we've not found any cases to where like somebody from the Sik community has has even used it to defend something, you know, they are not violent people. I think this is just an individual Um, you know, or They're not a whole violent dinity J an evil young man And there's plenty out there Absolutely f horrible. People of faith and people of no faith So you know, you can't blame a whole community for just this one person's behaviour Away from the court, the inquiries and the public debate Henry was remembered in a way that belonged fully to him In February of twenty twenty six, a charity match was held at the Snow Stadium in Toton between two teams he had played for The University of Southampton Football Club and Villa It's got it, doesnn't it Villo Re algorithm because they're algoric because they're a math Billa Ro I still tell was it. Villary algorithm. No, you said the university's maths football team, so His father said the day was about love, about football and about celebrating the life of Henry One teammate said Henry was one of those people that you had always wanted to be around I like people like that Yes Well, the match raised money for two wish a bereavement charity supporting Henry's immediate family with thousands raised in Henry's memory. The University of South Hampton said Henry had touched many lives in the tragically short time he had been there That is the part of Henry's life the footage can never show. Before Belmont's rooad before the handcuffs before the line Henry was a son Brother. student. teammate and a friend He was eighteen years old. And he had only just begun Yeah very much so He sounded like such a lovely lad, you know and doing really well with his school in and university and And just a lovely friend people Well Henry Novak had gone to Southampton to study to make friends, to play football and to begin the adult life that his family had been so proud to see him start December night he walked home through an ordinary street after midnight He should have reached his room. He should have opened the next door on his advent calendar. He should have had years ahead of him somewhere between Belmont Road and the life waiting for him Ery was taken from it all Well, that was the story The murder. of Henry Novak It's tragic I mean, I don't know how I got through this case without crying because Especially with their body cam Y. I don't regret seeing it because I think People need to say in some ways just to to really know what' real reality check, you know, on what what's going on There's a difference between like hearing about it and seeing it. Yeah, seeing it for yourself, makeake your own and hearing conlusions about You know Because you can listen to people, people U Well, we've done our best with like what's available. news articles and the sentencing Um support from the judge in that So you know, you can only go so far Um with rating and and stuff like that But until you see it for yourself and see what had happened and you can hear him Um, it's just harrowing Really horrific. It really is, it really is. I I think u If youre just if you're going to watch it, most people have probably watched it by now Um and they're all feeling how we feel. is just such a tragic. abbsolutely needless Murder. Absolutely and a look. But mainly, a lot of murders are mainly then there needs to be change within the police force And that's with training like even because I mean, I was in the military. you know, and and I don't mean the laugh, but it's just like, Someone fucks up and like, Kind of like when when I was in basic training So When someone would mess up The the Soll instructors would just yell at them It's so everybody could hear them to know, hey This person messed up This is how they messed up This is what they need to do blah bl, blah and everybody's warned you know, it's a it's a, you know, everybody needs to know You can't do this and this is really amplified big time across not just, like we said, not just the UK, but the whole world Yeah. I think, you know, it is obviously in big discussion at the moment and I just hope that it brings about good change within police training and things like that and that if No matter the situation that they are attending on initial you know, an initial nine ninety nine call or whatever initial reports they receive, somebody. States you know, is in the situation where they are showing that they are not quite with it are you laying on a floor, you know, claiming that they have been stabbed can't breathe Then you check That is the first thing you do is check and then they find nothing And they can deal with the incident. that First and foremost duty of care to all parties and especially person is saying that they are hurt I will say that reportedly Reportedly, don't know that one of the police officers that had attended They have resigned. They have it has been on the on the new It's been confirmed. So it has been confirmed that one officer that was part of that the incident has resigned. We O thispl don't have any more further information U, apart from u The IOPC will be invest in and we'll see what happens with all of that But obviously, you know, you can comment down below, you know, find us on Facebook and drop us comments and stuff. and yeah, please tell us what you think. Case within the IOPC and also Digwois's mum who will be sentenced so we'll follow that as well. seventeenth of July. Yeah Sry. Oh yeah, that Steen McCullough or Oh yeah why stream liine? We might as well. If you listen to the case of The live stream live. Yeah. Stephven McCullough, yeah Well, he's actually his the case we covered, we finally knew that he got sentenced and What was it? wasasn't it thirty one years Yes, he got sentenced. so the sentencing time frame actually has been released now and he's got his time frame of being in prison and he got thirty one years in jail. So yeah, that's a little update on the case that we We're done there, if you've listened to it, if not, go back and listen. Yeah, go back and listen Um So anyways, than. than you so much for listening If you'd like to support the work that we do here in the archive, you can join us on Patreon For ad free main episodes, early access, exclusive bonus cases, Q and As live streams and access to our discord community. So lot, lots to do on there. Yeah, lots and lots going on So if you'll, you know, if you want to do any of all that stuff or voice with the voice O Patreon and Discord and socials. and everything else. Is our link tree below. It is so funny Well if you enjoyed this episode, please like the video, subscribe on YouTube, follow the podcast and leave us a five star rating wherever you listen It generally helps others discover the stories that we tell So Until next week Stay safe and stay curious Take care of yourself And now our Patreon Ravens cououncil. So we have Ruby Tucker nineteen fifty six Cler Extreme clunge Whiskey forty five. time. I have to laugh at your useername. So funny. Kelly and candy Thank you so much for supporting us We really, really appreciate it Thank you very much. Yeah. See you next time Take care. Bye bye