The investigation will also consider whether race was a factor. The case triggered claims from the far right that Nowak\u2019s treatment had stemmed from an anti-white bias.<\/p>\n
The Independent Office for Police Conduct<\/a> had been treating officers involved as witnesses, meaning they believed there had been no possible wrongdoing. On Wednesday, the policing watchdog said they had changed that view, which in part follows meetings they had with the Nowak family and their lawyer, and a formal complaint from the family of the murdered student.<\/p>\n The IOPC said it would look at \u201cwhether the race or religion of either Henry or the Digwa family impacted on the actions and decision-making of the officers, whether officers\u2019 decisions were influenced by assumptions or prejudice relating to community tensions at the time\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement, the IOPC said: \u201cThe evidence indicates that both officers \u2013 who were the first to arrive at the scene late in the evening of 3 December 2025 \u2013 may have potentially breached the professional behaviour standards of duties and responsibilities, use of force, and discreditable conduct.<\/p>\n \u201cThese relate to potential failures by the officers to recognise that Henry needed urgent medical attention, to immediately act after he said he had been stabbed and he couldn\u2019t breathe, and the decision to arrest and handcuff Henry rather than provide immediate first aid.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also an indication one of the officers may have breached the standard relating to authority, respect and courtesy, for appearing to dismiss Henry saying he had been stabbed.\u201d<\/p>\n Derrick Campbell from the IOPC said: \u201cOur investigators met with Henry\u2019s family earlier this month where we were able to discuss our investigation with them in depth, now that criminal proceedings have concluded.<\/p>\n Protesters outside Southampton Central police station on 2 June, holding images of Henry Nowak and a pair of blood-covered handcuffs. Photograph: Justin Tallis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWe are obliged to constantly review the evidence obtained throughout our investigations and assess any indications of potential misconduct for officers involved. As a result, two officers will now face gross misconduct investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is clear evidence that public confidence in the force may have been seriously harmed by this incident, and that is a factor we must consider when assessing the evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe serving of gross misconduct notices does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n The IOPC will also look at issues such as why Nowak was handcuffed, while Digwa was not when he was arrested for attempted murder after police realised Nowak had been stabbed.<\/p>\n Campbell added: \u201cIt is also an important part of our role to identify whether any changes are needed to national or force policies or procedures, to improve police practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Digwa has been convicted of Nowak\u2019s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment<\/a> with a minimum of 21 years. The sentence is being appealed against<\/a> by senior government law officers on the basis it is unduly lenient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two police officers in the case of Henry Nowak have been placed under investigation for gross misconduct by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-772086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bodycam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1795.jpg\")
Bodycam footage shows Vickrum Digwa lying to police before his arrest \u2013\u00a0video<\/p>\n