Henry Nowak (left) and Vikrum Degua (right)
A newly released police body camera transcript has revealed that it took officers around eight minutes to discover the fatal stab wound that claimed the life of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, after being misled by convicted murderer Vikram Singh Dhigwa’s false account of what happened.According to a transcript released by the Crown Prosecution Service, the revelation sheds new light on the final moments of the finance student from Chafford Hundred, Essex, whose death sparked national outrage after footage emerged showing him handcuffed and arrested shortly before passing out in Southampton.Prosecutors said Degoa misled responding officers by claiming Nowak had removed his turban in a racially motivated attack, leading police to initially treat the teen as the suspect.Bodycam footage shows Nowak repeatedly saying he had been stabbed and struggling to breathe, prompting one officer to respond: “You’ve been stabbed? Where are you? Don’t think you’ve been stabbed, mate.”
Horror discovery eight minutes later
The turning point came more than seven minutes after the incident when officers finally cut off Henry’s clothes.According to the transcript released by CPS, a female officer then found what appeared to be a stab wound.“Yes, he was stabbed…there’s a mark there,” she said.
The officer immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and replied: “This makes it worse. He’s been stabbed… and I’m putting pressure on the stab wound.”Moments later, when paramedics arrived, the officer told them: “We just discovered a stab wound in his chest.”The BBC reported that time stamps in the transcript indicate that it took officers approximately eight minutes from arriving at the scene to identify the fatal chest wound.Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police cited evidence from the trial suggesting that the officers could have done nothing to save Henry because the wound had caused severe internal bleeding.The Independent Office for Police Conduct is continuing its investigation into the police response, while a grand jury inquiry next year will examine whether any action or omission by police contributed to Henry’s death, The Independent reported.