Men jailed for violence at Henry Nowak protest in Southampton

Two men have been sentenced for their involvement in violent disorder during a protest in Southampton, which followed the murder of Henry Nowak. Connor Bishop, aged 24, received a prison term of two years and eight months, while Leon O’Leary, 41, was handed a three-year and one-month sentence. Both men had previously admitted to violent disorder charges.

These are the first convictions after the incident, which occurred last Tuesday night and saw severe clashes between protesters and police. During the unrest, 11 police officers and a police dog sustained injuries as objects such as wheelie bins and chairs were thrown in the Portswood area of Southampton. The protest was sparked by the release of police bodycam footage showing Nowak, 18, handcuffed and dying following a stabbing.

Henry Nowak was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years to serve. Digwa had claimed he carried the large knife due to his Sikh faith and initially deceived the police by alleging he was the victim of a racist attack, which led to officers mistakenly arresting Nowak at the scene.

In total, 21 people have been charged in connection with the disorder, including Bishop from Southampton and O’Leary from Basingstoke. The disturbance began with a crowd demonstrating outside the city centre police station before moving near to Digwa’s family home. Meanwhile, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation into how the police handled the situation

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