The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced on Wednesday that two Hampshire Constabulary officers are under investigation for potential gross misconduct over their handling of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton in December 2025. The watchdog stated that the officers, who were first at the scene, may have breached professional standards on duties and responsibilities, use of force, and discreditable conduct. The investigation centres on their failure to recognise that Nowak needed urgent medical attention, the decision to arrest and handcuff him rather than provide first aid, and one officer’s apparent dismissal of his repeated statements that he had been stabbed and could not breathe.

The IOPC has widened its inquiry to examine whether the race or religion of Nowak, who was white, or of his killer, Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man, influenced the officers’ actions. The watchdog is also assessing whether assumptions or prejudice linked to community tensions at the time shaped their decisions. Nowak’s family, who have lodged formal complaints, described the police treatment as “inhumane and degrading” but urged that his death not be exploited to fuel division. Far-right activists and politicians in the UK have seized on the case to allege systemic anti-white bias in the justice system, while liberal and left-wing commentators, according to German press reports, view this as a campaign with a racist subtext.

The body-worn video footage, released in early June, showed Nowak lying on the ground, handcuffed, saying “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe,” to which an officer replied, “I don’t think you have, mate.” The images triggered public outrage and protests in Southampton that turned violent after Digwa was sentenced on 1 June to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years. A pathologist’s report later concluded that Nowak would have died of his injuries at the scene regardless of the emergency response, and police did eventually call an ambulance and perform CPR. The IOPC noted that there is clear evidence public confidence in the force may have been seriously harmed.

The case originated when Digwa, 23, falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist assault by Nowak, leading the first responding officers to treat the dying teenager as a suspect. The IOPC’s investigation, now in an advanced phase, will also scrutinise the actions of control room staff and the information passed to attending officers and the ambulance service. The serving of gross misconduct notices does not automatically mean disciplinary proceedings will follow; the watchdog will decide on that step only after its investigation concludes. No timeline has been set for the final determination.