Six more charged after Southampton protests over Henry Nowak case
Six more men were charged as anger over Henry Nowak’s final moments on bodycam footage spilled into violence, injuring 11 officers and a police dog.
Six more men were charged after protests in Southampton erupted around police body-camera footage from the Henry Nowak murder case, bringing the total number charged over the disorder to 11.
The unrest broke out on Tuesday night after footage was released showing 18-year-old Nowak, who was stabbed to death on 3 December 2025 while walking home after a night out with friends, being handcuffed while mortally wounded and repeatedly saying he could not breathe. The scenes fuelled anger over how police handled him at the spot where he was attacked, and demonstrators later clashed with officers in riot gear near Southampton Central Police Station and in the Portswood area.
More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station, and the violence left 11 police officers and one police dog injured. The six men charged on 6 June were remanded in custody and are due to appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court later.
The charges come after Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for murdering Nowak with a ceremonial knife with an eight-inch, 21cm blade. Prosecutors said Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused before the killing, a detail that has sharpened the anger surrounding the case and widened the political fallout from the protests.
Earlier court outcomes already signalled the scale of the police response. Daniel Frost, 44, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and to possessing a dog lead with a metal carabiner as an offensive weapon after throwing dustbins at police. Three other defendants also pleaded guilty to violent disorder and were remanded in custody.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had worked with Hampshire Police on the investigation and that there was sufficient evidence and a clear public interest in bringing criminal proceedings. The latest charges take the number of people facing prosecution deeper into one of Southampton’s most serious public-order cases in recent years, with body-worn video at the centre of both the outrage and the evidence.
Nigel Farage also weighed in on the case, urging the public to respond with “pure, cold rage” and saying it showed evidence of “two-tier policing” in Britain. The case has become a test of how far police transparency can calm distrust when the context is still fiercely contested, and how quickly released footage can turn grief and anger into criminal proceedings.
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