Mahmood warns against ‘inflammatory’ remarks over Henry Nowak murder after Farage calls for ‘cold rage’

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned that “misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse” as anger over the case of Henry Nowak was stoked further by Nigel Farage, who urged the public to respond with “pure cold rage”.

In a statement to the Commons, Ms Mahmood revealed that a police officer wrongly identified as having arrested the dying teenager has received death threats and been forced into hiding amid a “dangerous undercurrent”.

Chilling video footage from the night Nowak was killed shows that police handcuffed the 18-year-old student as he lay on the ground, despite his repeated pleas that he could not breathe. He died shortly afterwards.

In footage recorded by a body-worn camera of the incident in Southampton, Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying “I’ve been stabbed”, to which an officer replies: “Don’t think you have, mate.”

Sir Keir Starmer described the video as “harrowing”, adding: “I have to say, as the father of a 17-year-old boy, I felt sick watching it.”

Hampshire Police Federation condemned calls for “vigilante justice” to be enacted against officers. The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), is investigating the handling of the case.

Vickrum Digwa fatally stabbed Nowak in December 2025 using a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, after falsely accusing him of carrying out a racist attack. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years at Southampton Crown Court on Monday.

Mr Farage likened Nowak’s treatment to the killing of George Floyd and said it was evidence of a “two-tier culture”.

In a video statement on Tuesday, the Reform UK leader called for recognition that “white lives matter” as he referred to the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Mr Farage said Nowak was “actually treated in a way that meant an accusation of a racial slur was treated more seriously than an act of murder”.

“Enough of anti-white prejudice,” he added, suggesting there should be “a promotion of the idea that white lives matter just as much as Black lives”.

Sir Keir’s spokesperson said there is “no such thing as two-tier policing”, while Ms Mahmood said it is not helpful to pit different communities against one another.

She told MPs: “The police in this country have a sacred duty: to police without fear or favour. Everyone in this country is equal before the law. It is the promise upon which our whole justice system rests, and the equality of every citizen is the foundation on which the openness, tolerance and generosity of this country rests.”

She continued: “Threats against police officers are utterly unacceptable. There can be no justification for intimidation, abuse, or attempts to take the law into one’s own hands. A police officer unrelated to this case has been misidentified online and subjected to death threats. He has been forced to relocate to protect himself and his family.

“Misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse. We must all, together, condemn it.”

Earlier, leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Mr Farage was “taking sides” and accused him of “whipping people up”.

“It is making me angry because that’s not how we solve this,” she said. “We can’t solve it by whipping people up. We can’t solve it by making them angry.

“I’m not taking sides. I’m saying, ‘Enough of this.’ We need to stop this racialising of our society.

“We are multiracial, yes, but we need to stop using race as a way of defining laws … Let’s treat everyone equally.”

Digwa’s family have apologised to Nowak’s family and for bringing the Sikh community into “disrepute”, but said the tragedy should not be used to “inflame division or hostility towards any community”.

In a statement, the family said: “The loss of a young life is a grief that no family should ever have to carry. We are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure.

“We love Vickrum. We will continue to love him. That love does not stand in opposition to the sorrow we feel for the Nowak family. Both are real, and both will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

“We would give anything to turn back time so the path of both Henry and Vickrum never crossed that night. We cannot change what has happened, we just hope that no further pain is caused in its name.

“We apologise to the Sikh community for our son’s actions, which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute.”

A group of 11 Sikh MPs said they stand in solidarity with Nowak’s family following the “senseless and tragic” incident.

The police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, Donna Jones, has said she is leading calls for a review of religious exemptions to the law on the carrying of knives after Nowak’s murder.

In a statement, Ms Jones said: “Central to this incident is the fact that Vickrum Digwa was able to carry a knife in public because there is an exemption for those who observe the Sikh faith to carry ceremonial daggers.

“I intend to write to the prime minister to request a national review of the laws concerning the carrying of bladed articles under religious exemptions.”

Mr Farage said he had sent one of “multiple requests” for Digwa’s sentence to be reviewed under the unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme, while a police watchdog probe into how officers responded to the murder will report back within the next three months, according to Ms Mahmood.

Sir Keir said: “It is absolutely right that the IOPC are looking at this. There are clearly serious questions that need to be addressed, not least how accusations of racism informed the decision-making in this case.

“But my thoughts, I am sure the thoughts of everybody in this country, are with Henry’s family. His life has been stolen and they are understandably devastated, and that is where I start in this.”