Henry Nowak Murder: Coroner Rules Inquest Must Now Consider Whether Police ‘Caused or Contributed’ to Death

The Hampshire coroner has said a full inquest before a jury will consider the “broader circumstances” of the death of Henry Nowak, who was murdered last year, and whose killer was sentenced to life in prison this week.

An inquest will take place into the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday morning. The accounting student was stabbed to death in December 2025 by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, who used his Sikh faith as a pretext to carry the murder weapon, a long and finely-pointed ‘Shastar’ knife which was driven into Nowak’s chest.

While such violent stranger murders are not unknown in the United Kingdom, the racial element introduced by the murderer and the fact police handcuffed the dying victim in his final moments of life has caused it to become a major area of concern in the UK public conversation, and a case for police reform. Public outrage over the handcuffing of a dying man over a fabricated racism claim triggered outrage which intensified after a fragment of body worn camera footage was published by police which showed an officer dragging Nowak across the ground and then lying him on his side, after which the teen quickly deteriorated and died.

Until now police have relied on the pathologist’s finding, as presented during the criminal trial, that by the time officers got on scene Nowak’s death was already certain to exculpate their officers for their behaviour at the scene. Yet the county coroner implied in his remarks on Thursday that more facts are yet to be discovered, and said a new investigation would seek to ascertain whether the police “caused or contributed to death”.

Coroner Jason Pegg said should more facts be discovered during the course of the inquest that wouldn’t mean the pathologist’s report had failed in any way, as the purpose of the two examinations is fundamentally different and the inquest would look at broader factors surrounding the death. Because Nowak was in the custody of the state he had a right to life that the state had a responsibility for, Pegg said, meaning an investigation has to take place.

He said:

The scope of any inquest where article two is engaged is not simply how someone came by their death, but also in what broader circumstances. I am not satisfied that the investigations that have taken place to date in relation to the death of Henry Nowak have fully discharged the investigative article two obligation.

Indeed, those other investigations were not and are not necessarily intended to discharge such obligations. The issue in this case is likely to be whether any act or omission by a police officer or any delay in the treatment Henry Nowak received caused or contributed to death.

The coroner said this investigation would take place in public, would be before a jury, and would allow the involvement of Henry Nowak’s family.

While the planned inquest is not due to take place until late 2027, the coroner was reported by the BBC to have said on Thursday morning that he “hoped” given the nature of the case it would be brought forward to another date.

Hampshire Constabulary, in whose custody Henry Nowak died in December 2025, had already apologised once for having arrested the teen as he lay dying, with Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France of the force saying last week “I am deeply sorry that Henry could not be saved. I am deeply sorry that in the moments he lost consciousness, he had been handcuffed and arrested”. The force said they fully blamed the murderer for telling officers at the scene lies they they believed, including accusing Nowak of calling him a racist slur, and denying that any stabbing had taken place.

But now the force has issued a second apology, with the Chief Constable of Hampshire Alexis Boon calling the dying a “tragedy” and saying this week: “I really feel for the family… I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this”.

Having moved on from that, Boon moved quickly onto warning the public off discussing the case and his force’s role in it. Because of the death in custody Hampshire police was automatically referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) for investigation, and because of this he said: “what he have currently is an independent investigation into what happened. I’d just ask people not to pre-judge that independent investigation or make assumptions because it needs to consider all the evidence, and let the officers talk about their point of view as well so there is a fair and independent investigation.”