Henry Nowak latest: Police chief condemns violent clashes in Southampton as 11 officers and dog injured

Two people were arrested for assaulting police and possession of a weapon after hundreds gathered outside Southampton Central Police Station on Tuesday where Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – and actor and campaigner Laurence Fox were among those who spoke to the crowd.

Hampshire Police said the number of arrests would increase as investigations continue into the disorder.

Violent scenes broke out after a large group walked across town to the area of Portswood.

Demonstrators chanted “Henry, Henry” as the line of police were pelted with bricks.

Chairs, cans and flares were thrown at police in riot gear, eventually forcing officers and three police vans back from the line they had been holding.

In a written statement, Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon said: “We understand and appreciate as police officers that we are accountable for our actions. What we ask, however, is that those actions are judged through fair and transparent processes. In this case, that process is already under way with the IOPC conducting their independent investigation.

“What we, as a society, cannot accept is the violent scenes we saw in Southampton last night.

“Some clearly arrived intent on causing disorder and trouble. We saw bottles thrown, makeshift weapons used, damage caused to the homes and vehicles of innocent residents, and threats and violence directed towards our officers.

“As a result, 11 officers and one police dog were injured, while trying to do their job to protect the communities that we serve.

“While we are forced to deal with those determined to spark fear and division, our finite resources are taken away from those who need it most.

“I know how intimidating the scenes from last night must have been for those living and working in the area, and to you I must stress we have incredibly experienced teams of officers who are working around the clock to keep you safe – that is our absolute priority.

“You will see more of my officers patrolling your neighbourhoods over the coming days and specialist intelligence teams are supporting those on the front line.

“My officers bravely and robustly faced violence with professionalism and courage last night, and this morning our investigation is under way to identify those responsible for the disorder.

“Last night, we made two arrests and that number will rise as those investigations continue.

“I know that since the release of the body-worn video footage from the night of Henry Nowak’s murder there is a desire for answers and accountability, but that must be done in the right way and not used as an excuse to threaten and intimidate my officers and bring violence to our streets, causing fear and harm to those living and working in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.”

Hampshire Police said 11 officers and one police dog were injured after violent clashes between its officers and protesters near where Henry Nowak was stabbed to death in Southampton.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called the killing of student HenryNowak a “seminal moment for Britain” on par with the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also described the 18-year-old finance student’s death as “a watershed moment for this country”.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mrs Badenoch said: “Henry’s murder and the police’s botched response must be a seminal moment for Britain on a par with the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager killed in 1993, which precipitated the Macpherson Report six years later, which found the Metropolitan Police to be ‘institutionally racist’.

“Stephen’s murder forced the country to confront the intolerable and say: ‘This is not who we are’. Indeed, many battles have been won in making our society better and fairer since then.”

Mrs Badenoch also criticised then Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his then deputy Angela Rayner for kneeling amid Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while being restrained by a white police officer in 2020.

“Why are they not kneeling now for Henry Nowak?” she asked, saying the police response to the stabbing had “exposed devastating failures”, although she said police in the UK are no longer institutionally racist.

Henry Nowak deserved better. In December, the 18-year-old student was stabbed multiple times while on his way home from a night out in Southampton.

As he lay bleeding on the pavement, he pleaded “I can’t breathe” repeatedly to the attending police officers, who, instead of administering aid, put him in handcuffs and arrested him. The last thing he heard before he died was an officer reading him his rights.

His assailant had made false claims that Nowak had racially abused him, punched him and knocked off his turban.

Read the full analysis from Festus Akinbusoye here:

Our political editor David Maddox says:

Nigel Farage’s silence on the protests in Southampton over the Henry Nowak murder and the police handling of it is deafening.

The Reform UK leader does everything he can not to be associated with the far right leader Tommy Robinson who was behind those violent protests.

But the two hold common cause in a way, in politicising this tragedy after Farage’s call for “rage” in response to what happened.

And it has certainly ratcheted up what was already a tense situation. The prime minister Keir Starmer must be concerned that we could see riots again as we did after the Southport murders.

If you look at the measured and thoughtful response from Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, she clearly is worried about that too.

It will be for the government and political establishment to consider whether the anti-racism measures in policing have gone too far.

A simple “we don’t have two tier justice” will not wash with the increasingly angry people on the streets.

More importantly, this is set to become a major issue in the Makerfield by-election where Andy Burnham is hoping to win for Labour en route to becoming PM.

He needs to articulate answers to a constituency that is 97 per cent white working class and already feels overlooked.

A government minister was unable to say there is “no two-tier policing” in Britain in the wake the Henry Nowak murder.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said instead that in principle “everyone is equal under the law”, but admitted there are “examples of people making the wrong call in different ways”.

Asked if there is two-tier policing in the UK, she told BBC Radio 4: “I would say that the principles are important, that everyone is equal under the law.

“I would say that there are 100,000 999 calls a day, and that in the majority of cases, the police are doing the right thing, making the right decisions in the right way. But I would also say that wherever there are mistakes – and this is I think a case where the country is looking to us to make sure we learn the lessons and put anything wrong right – that we continue to strive to do that.

“But the principles of what our policing by consent foundations are based on, equality under the law, that is the basis of our entire society.”

Pushed on whether there are examples o two-tier policing she said: “I think we see examples of people making the wrong call in different ways. In the main, that is not what we see. I think to push a certain sort of agenda in this case is not helpful.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said “pernicious identity politics” had seen the country “going backwards”.

In a Daily Mail article, she said there was a need to “sweep out a lot of the historic, incoherent nonsense that has been brought in under the guise of anti-racism”.

She said: “I have said that we are going to root out all identity politics from state institutions – from removing diversity requirements from defence procurement to scrapping preferential sentencing for minorities.

“But it can’t end there. No other political party has a plan for integration and assimilation.”

She added she was “disturbed” by Nigel Farage’s video response, and said that his words were part of a “toxic tribal politics that divides our country”.