Gransnet forums

News & politics

Henry Nowak…….an absolute tragedy.

(798 Posts)
Sago Fri 29-May-26 08:41:07

How has the tragic case of this young man not caused outrage?

Imagine if he had been a person of colour or ethnic minority.

The Police handling of this case raises serious questions.

The killer behaved appallingly, lying to Police and then getting his family to hide weapons and cover for him.

It’s also astonishing to learn Sikhs can carry these knives in public because they are “ religious regalia”

For anyone that isn’t aware of this tragedy here is a link.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70vy0kknj4o

twaddle Sat 30-May-26 15:42:18

Maremia

All murders are horrendous.
This one has the aspect of police error.
It also has the aspect of 'race'.
Which aspect was raised first in the OP?

Two favourite topics for some people to gossip and rant about. I wonder if anybody actually cares about the victim.

MissAdventure Sat 30-May-26 15:45:28

The victim's death is the worst part of it all.

eazybee Sat 30-May-26 16:08:43

Two favourite topics for some people to gossip and rant about. I wonder if anybody actually cares about the victim.

People are not 'gossiping and ranting'; they are genuinely horrified by the callous murder of a young man, compounded by the lies told to the police by the perpetrator.

DiamondLily Sat 30-May-26 16:22:21

Every murder caused death, whatever the ethnic origins, is a tragedy. Not sure why this one is any worse than any others. 🤷‍♀️

Galaxy Sat 30-May-26 16:25:51

Presumably the same applies to George Floyd, Sarah Everard etc. People have explained over and over.

sundowngirl Sat 30-May-26 16:44:03

twaddle

sundowngirl

FGS, Twaddle. It's not the murder itself—horrific though it obviously is. It's the way the police handled the case that's made it such a 'cause célèbre' in the media and on social media. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?

It isn't difficult for me to understand at all.

How does that justify all the millions of words on social media, some of which are disgusting? Many of those words are hysterical lies and racist. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?

I haven’t read anything on GN that are racist words or hysterical lies.

I have only seen concern about the way the police handled the case

I really don’t believe there has been anything to justify here

Flippin2 Sat 30-May-26 16:58:17

Racism isn't a one way street

Oreo Sat 30-May-26 17:04:56

twaddle

I'm still not sure why this particular murder has been adopted as a "cause celebre" by so many groups on social media. There's no denying it's horrific, but so are all murders.

I think you understand very well.

Oreo Sat 30-May-26 17:10:13

twaddle

Maremia

All murders are horrendous.
This one has the aspect of police error.
It also has the aspect of 'race'.
Which aspect was raised first in the OP?

Two favourite topics for some people to gossip and rant about. I wonder if anybody actually cares about the victim.

Now, that’s a very strange comment for you to make when so very many people here are horrified by this murder.
An 18 year old student at Southampton University stabbed multiple times as he made his way home.By a lying cowardly man.Then to compile the horror for him, as he was lying there hardly able to breathe, police arriving and handcuffing him!
It’s beyond dreadful.
Your own words are, why is this worse than any other murder?
Does that sound caring about the victim? No it doesn’t.

ronib Sat 30-May-26 17:34:59

Why was the murderer’s brother notarrested for attempting to pervert the course of justice along with his most shameful mother who was arrested?

surfsup Sun 31-May-26 18:41:58

twaddle

How does that justify all the millions of words on social media, some of which are disgusting? Many of those words are hysterical lies and racist. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?

How do you know these are hysterical lies and racist? Were you there? Why are you so invested in this? Maybe you don’t have anything better to do with your time as you have obviously spent a lot of it trawling social media.

This was a horrific crime and the police should release the body cam footage if they’ve nothing to hide.

LemonJam Sun 31-May-26 19:22:27

Police body cam footage of their immediate arrival at such a scene is not usually released. In the same way the social worker/health visitor etc documentation of the 2 children whose mothers were convicted of their murder also reported in the press recently has been released.

The death of those 2 children, one a very young baby, was tragic and raises questions about child health and social care systems yet no post on Gransnet asking similar serious questions.

Posting the police body worn camera footage of Henry Novak's murder is highly controversial. There is a need to balance pubic accountability versus the dignity of the victim and wishes of the family.

Pros police accountability, combating cover ups, exposing systemic bias.

Cons victim dignity and respect- family members and advocates usually express that the public does not need to see a loved one's final agonising moments played repeatedly on social media and their wishes need to be taken into account. The incident is already under investigation by IOPC and legal experts advise that releasing raw evidence prematurely could compromise ongoing judicial (the judge has not yet ruled on sentence) and disciplinary proceedings. Distortion of context- it strips away the split second context of a crime scene, potentially mis leading the public before official findings are made.

It's fairly obvious where the balance falls at this stage.

twaddle Sun 31-May-26 19:28:26

Does anybody know how the police were informed? I was puzzled to read that the murderer's mother reached the scene before the police and was wondering how she managed that.

twaddle Sun 31-May-26 19:30:39

surfsup

twaddle

How does that justify all the millions of words on social media, some of which are disgusting? Many of those words are hysterical lies and racist. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?

How do you know these are hysterical lies and racist? Were you there? Why are you so invested in this? Maybe you don’t have anything better to do with your time as you have obviously spent a lot of it trawling social media.

This was a horrific crime and the police should release the body cam footage if they’ve nothing to hide.

Maybe I don't have anything better to do with my time. I assume that was meant as a personal insult, but I won't be reporting you.

surfsup Sun 31-May-26 19:41:08

Twaddle

Maybe I don't have anything better to do with my time. I assume that was meant as a personal insult, but I won't be reporting you.

You were the one asking if people didn’t have anything better to do with their time yet you object to being asked the same question. confused

Jaxjacky Sun 31-May-26 19:53:25

twaddle

Does anybody know how the police were informed? I was puzzled to read that the murderer's mother reached the scene before the police and was wondering how she managed that.

Apparently neighbours called it in.

twaddle Sun 31-May-26 20:13:23

Jaxjacky

twaddle

Does anybody know how the police were informed? I was puzzled to read that the murderer's mother reached the scene before the police and was wondering how she managed that.

Apparently neighbours called it in.

Ah! Thanks! Neighbours of whom? Was it the place where the stabbing took place?

But how did the mother get there before the police? Apparently she took and hid the knife before the police got there. I'm curious to know how she did that. Not only that, but when the police arrived, there was no obvious murder weapon and it appears the injuries weren't immediately visible.

twaddle Sun 31-May-26 20:14:30

surfsup

Twaddle

Maybe I don't have anything better to do with my time. I assume that was meant as a personal insult, but I won't be reporting you.

You were the one asking if people didn’t have anything better to do with their time yet you object to being asked the same question. confused

When did I object? Please stop making things up. It's not doing you any favours.

twaddle Sun 31-May-26 20:24:57

The thing is, surfsup, I do have loads of time and I have no intention of telling everybody on Gransnet why.

I'm interested in how social media influences people, so I look at sites like X. It's fair to say that I would never meet in real life many of the people who post on there, so it's an opportunity to understand different points of view.

I spotted the name "Henry Nowak" a few weeks ago and realised that the case had been taken up by Tommy Robinson, some Reform and other right-wing groups. There are thousands of posts about him on X alone. Unfortunately, I don't think I've seen one post sending condolences to his family.

As with the Southport murders (and some other murders), they gain momentum, particularly if the murderer is from an ethnic minority. Strangely enough, the same people are very quiet if a white British murderer is involved or the victim is from an ethnic minority group. After a while, the Chinese whispers principle starts to operate. People don't bother checking the source or facts and start spreading outrageous lies. I don't need to have been there to know that some of the stuff being circulated just can't be true. I can also see that incidents bring out the people who would like to send everybody with a brown face home (even if home is in the UK!)

sundowngirl Sun 31-May-26 20:33:52

twaddle

sundowngirl

FGS, Twaddle. It's not the murder itself—horrific though it obviously is. It's the way the police handled the case that's made it such a 'cause célèbre' in the media and on social media. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?

It isn't difficult for me to understand at all.

How does that justify all the millions of words on social media, some of which are disgusting? Many of those words are hysterical lies and racist. Don't people have anything better to do with their time?

Twaddle - I think Surfsup was referring to your last sentence on this post

Jaxjacky Sun 31-May-26 20:39:00

People living nearby twaddle. I assume Digwa rang her?

REKA Sun 31-May-26 20:41:56

twaddle

Does anybody know how the police were informed? I was puzzled to read that the murderer's mother reached the scene before the police and was wondering how she managed that.

Rather than calling an ambulance or police immediately though, Digwa filmed Henry as he sat on the floor. His mother then came and removed the knife he had used from the scene.

His brother made the 999 call and didn't mention anything about knives or stabbing. Just said his brother was being racially abused.

All this information is easily found. Not necessarily on X either.

Maybe look for yourself to find information

sundowngirl Sun 31-May-26 20:42:08

Twaddle - I think you are looking for racism on this post where none exists. The majority of posters are just concerned about the police handling of this case and what could appear to be a case of two tier policing

rafichagran Sun 31-May-26 21:12:23

This murder is tragic, but I really feel these Police Officers are at fault. because of their inaction, handcufing, and not believing him when he said he could not breathe. His last moments should have been more comfortable.
The murderers Mother is a disgrace, she lied and tried to hide the ceremonial weapon. I hope she does some jail time.
The Sikh hierarchy have quite rightly condemned it. If anything comes from this tragic death, I hope its they are banned from carrying these weapons ceremonial or not.
The Police should also be accountable too.



because of their inaction, handcufing, and not believing he was stabbed but they should have made better desitions and even when Henry Novac did die, his last moments should have been more comfortable.
The murderers Mother is a disgrace, she lied and tried to hide the ceremonial weapon. I hope she does some jail time.
The Sikh hierarchy have quite rightly condemned it. If anything comes from this tragic death, I hope its they are banned from carrying these weapons ceremonial or not.
The Police should also be accountable too.

Maremia Sun 31-May-26 21:13:33

If the main issue was the Police handling, then why wasn't it mentioned in the OP, before ethnicity came into it?