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Student Henry Nowak, 18, was handcuffed and arrested by police after Vickrum Digwa fatally stabbed him before lying about being racially abused by the teen. Mr Nowak was detained by officers in the minutes before his death after Vickrum Digwa lied and claimed he had called him a “p****” and knocked his turban off during an altercation in December. Henry, who had been stabbed four times with an 8in ceremonial knife, was arrested despite pleading with police that he could not breathe. As politicians react to the shocking bodycam footage, James O'Brien asks why this death is already being politicised. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #henrynowak #LBC #crime #news #uknews LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
It's almost impossible to pick the worst bit of the murder of Henry Novak
0:05
But I think probably the police officer telling him, as he revealed, stated that he'd been stabbed
0:12
I don't think so, mate, is probably the most unbearable element of all of it
0:18
And those police officers already under investigation by the relevant authorities. and the problem is that where you see tragedy and and horror and where you feel disgust and
0:34
heartbreak other people see opportunity and feel an almost sort of gleeful relish at the prospect of
0:42
provoking more violent responses just as the same people did after the murders in Southport having
0:48
helped spread profoundly and entirely untrue lies about the murderer in that case
0:54
And, of course, when people, as a consequence of those lies, took to the streets to attack entirely innocent people
0:59
and took to social media to call for pogroms in profoundly illegal ways
1:04
they have been lauded and defended by precisely the sort of people who woke up this morning and saw not tragedy but opportunity
1:12
And, of course, some people lack the conscience to recognise that and will instead offer platforms and amplifications of calls for
1:22
I mean, so perilously close, so vanishingly close to violence that you may not need have bothered with the euphemisms
1:32
Respond with cold, hard rage, said Nigel Farage. What does that mean? If not, do what you did after the Southport killings
1:39
when I was responsible for spreading deep and racist lies. And I don't want to talk about that
1:46
I don't want to talk about that I don't really want to talk about him
1:50
and yet you look across the media spectrum and you see the attention that's being paid
1:58
to his latest attempts at sowing hatred and division listen, feel what you want about the murderer
2:03
I feel deep and abiding hatred towards him I hope he is never released
2:08
it doesn't matter how bleeding your liberal heart may be there are many, many crimes
2:13
that just sort of almost compel you to leave any form of compassion or sympathy at the door
2:18
He sounds like a hideous little man and has committed a truly, truly heinous crime
2:23
Again, apart from the father, talking about the lack of dignity with which his son died
2:31
and a police officer telling him that he didn't think he had been stabbed when he'd been stabbed multiple times
2:36
the sister, Henry's sister, talking about the hole that has been left in her life
2:40
was close to unbearable. But do we, I mean, do we let him and his hatred
2:52
and his desire for violence on the streets of our country distract us from the horror of what happened to Henry
3:00
Do we let him and his vicious lies about two-tier policing his deployment of white supremacist slogans like white lives matter some people referencing
3:12
george floyd this morning a man who was murdered by white racist policemen henry novak murdered by
3:18
a british youngster a young british man of course some people want to stick seek in the headlines
3:27
in ways that they would never stick christian or jew or um some other religions i can't remember
3:32
the last time I read about a Catholic murderer, but given that the weapon he used was something
3:36
that some people of that faith are permitted to carry in public
3:40
then I can sort of see why. Daily Mail, in a particularly disgusting stoop
3:49
even by their standards, puts the word seek in quotes that are attributed to Henry's father
3:54
despite the fact that Henry's father did not use the word seek, as far as I can tell, in his heartfelt and heartbreaking
4:00
description of his son's final hours. Police dragged our son across gravel
4:06
handcuffed him and left him to die, then treated his Sikh murderer with decency. That's in quotes in the Daily Mail
4:14
And yet what he actually said, what Mark Novak actually said, his murderer, however, was afforded decency
4:20
He was believed. He was not handcuffed when arrested. He was not handcuffed when transported to the police station
4:26
As far as we understand, he was never handcuffed at all. Actually, I just want you to hear his words
4:30
for yourself. You'll have to ask the editor of the Daily Mail
4:35
where they've pretended that he used the word seek in these comments, just as you'd have to ask Nigel Farage yourself
4:41
how he could have woken up this morning and seen opportunity where everybody half-decent
4:45
sees tragedy and horror. Again, I'll say it again, feel anything you want
4:49
about the killer. I got this weird habit of not wanting to say the killer name when I on the radio It pathetic I did I mean it is genuinely pathetic on my part because it achieves nothing but it almost as if you it almost as if you
5:03
dirty your own tongue by saying it. I just want you to listen to what Peter Novak had to say
5:11
outside court yesterday when, and I think it's also important to remember, when his son's murderer
5:16
was sentenced to life in prison after an investigation by police officers
5:21
who Peter Novak thanked. You could be forgiven for not knowing a lot of things
5:25
about this story if you're following some outlets. The 999 call was made by the murderer's brother
5:32
I don't know what the rules are for police turning up, but I would imagine that the first people you turn to
5:38
are the people that called you. And then a criminal lies. A disgusting criminal tells disgusting lies
5:44
And the reaction of the police is so awful that it's almost impossible to believe. It may become easier to believe when we have all the facts
5:51
but the reply, I don't think you have, mate. Audible on the body cam footage released last night by the police
5:57
with the family's permission, this would be the police that are somehow engaging in two-tier policing
6:02
or not to be trusted, or the police that some people want you to start attacking today. They released the body cam footage
6:08
so committed are they to full transparency. And you can hear this police officer
6:14
I don't think you have, mate. I've been stabbed and I can't breathe
6:19
I don't think you have, mate. And I don't know what to do today
6:25
because, I mean, there is no phone-in to have about Henry. What happened to him was disgusting and heartbreaking
6:34
And there is a phone-in to have about a disgusting man seeking to make political capital out of it
6:40
and being aided and abetted by members of my profession. Having already seen what happened when..
6:45
I mean, the riots in Southport were named after him by many people, myself included
6:50
We all know what the Farage riots are. We all know that people arrested during them have since then
6:56
20% of the people arrested during those riots have been arrested for domestic abuse. So all the people protecting our women are going home to batter them
7:03
And those are the people to whom he speaks. Those are the people who he is calling upon today
7:07
to respond with cold, hard rage. What do you think he means
7:11
Do I need to spell it out? I'll tell you what, there'll be senior police officers
7:15
up and down this country at the moment, thanking God that it's raining. Because if there's one thing that quells vicious violence
7:24
directed at entirely innocent people, whether they're asylum seekers living in a hotel
7:29
a former hotel, a repurposed hotel, or whether they are Sikh human beings
7:34
who have no more involvement in this crime than you or Nigel Farage does, he wants you to look askance at the very least
7:42
to look askance at them. and don't trust the police, and don't trust the brown people
7:46
What has this story got to do with immigration? Do people start talking about the birth rate
7:51
whenever somebody who can trace their lineage back to the doomsday book commits a murder
7:56
Oh, we've got too many people being born in this country. Show me a population of people, and there will be some criminals in it
8:02
Show me a population of people of colour in this country, and they are more likely to die in police custody
8:07
They are more likely, if they're a young woman or girl, to be strip-searched by police
8:11
Yeah, but the police are biased against white people. The police are biased against white people, says Nigel Farage
8:17
who not long ago was urging hatred against anybody with a Polish surname
8:22
like Novak, which is, I think, the most popular surname in Poland
8:27
telling me that he wouldn't want to live next door to Eastern European, people of Eastern European heritage
8:32
But, hey, where you see tragedy, he sees opportunity. He sees opportunity
8:37
and of course then you get the what would it be the kind of projection the switching it the other
8:48
way around because people respond differently according to the color of the victim and the
8:53
perpetrator and that way madness lies whichever way around you see it you can be absolutely
9:00
heartbroken and furious about a murder but you shouldn't be more heartbroken and furious because
9:05
somebody has introduced the ethnicity of the killer into the conversation. How can you make
9:10
the murder of Henry Novak about immigration? How can you make the murder of a young man with a
9:16
Polish surname in beautiful, diverse Britain about immigration, unless you're sick? And I don't want
9:23
to talk about it because I don't want to talk about that sickness. I don't particularly want
9:28
to talk about the killer's sickness. I tell you what, though, this man deserves better. This man
9:33
does not deserve to have his son's murder turned into a political opportunity
9:37
Instead of being treated as a dying victim, police formally arrested Henry for assault
9:43
and read him his rights That was the last thing he heard Henry did not die with dignity He did not die with the care he deserved He lost consciousness before anyone believed him
9:59
It is 14 minutes after 10, so what do we do then, together, you and I
10:06
How do you deal with the fact that a hideous murder, on which we should all be agreed, should never have happened
10:12
and the police officers who didn't believe Henry in his dying moments
10:16
should be and will be investigated to the nth degree. But what do we do about the fact that we live in a country now
10:23
where public discourse is such that the people trying to turn it into an opportunity
10:28
and trying to incite the kind of violence that we saw on our streets
10:32
after the Southport murders are essentially having a red carpet rolled out for them in some quarters
10:37
Not all. I was slightly gratified to see some broadcasters behaving with dignity and morality this morning
10:46
But for others, I don't know, it's just good copy, is it? Let's get him on and let him spew his vile provocations unchallenged
10:54
and, I don't know, go out for a nice long lunch or something. And what do I do
10:59
Yeah, all right, that's what I'm going to ask you. What do I do? Seriously, what do I do on a morning like this
11:05
0345 6060 973. Because if I call out Farage, which I'm currently doing
11:10
in the most obvious and straightforward of ways, because every single thing I've said is true
11:16
then I'm being distracted from the real story as well. But how can you not
11:24
How can you not? You saw what happened if it goes unchallenged. You saw what happened when the lies on Twitter
11:28
after the Southport murders went unchallenged. Oh, it didn't just go unchallenged
11:32
They got amplified and disseminated by people like Nigel Farage, A woman who called for a pogrom, literally called for a pogrom
11:39
got invited onto stage at his party conference and cheered to the rafters
11:43
shortly after being released from jail. And to claim that this is evidence of a sort of anti-white feeling
11:50
in a country where police services are routinely found to be suffering from institutional racism
11:55
it's almost beyond comprehension, isn't it? Unless you understand that racism is always part of a triumvirate
12:02
it goes hand in hand with shame or shamelessness and deep, deep, deep dishonesty
12:08
You can't be a racist unless you're a liar. You come to this story and read about Henry
12:13
or learn about Henry's murder and think, I know what I'm going to do
12:17
I'm going to encourage everybody to be even more angry about immigration
12:22
What do you do when the murder is white? Well, I can answer that question. Nothing. Unless he's got a name like Novak, of course
12:29
in which case you'd be wanging on about how we have to stop freedom of movement
12:33
and get all the Eastern European people out of our country. The opportunism is so enormous, so hideous
12:40
that I'm afraid I can't really cling any longer to the idea that people can't see it
12:44
They just must like it. It's when George Floyd was brought into the conversation this morning
12:49
that I really found myself reeling. And, of course, it is the idea that an outpouring of grief and sorrow
13:00
for a black man murdered by the police enraged people. They don't think that a black man should ever receive that sort of treatment
13:09
The idea of people taking the knee because a black man was murdered by a racist policeman
13:14
We shouldn't be extending that sort of dignity and compassion to a black man
13:19
And, of course, those of us who want nothing but dignity and compassion for all victims of murder
13:24
somehow get cast as being the enemy of the racists. Oh, I'm happy with that badge
13:30
I'm happy with that hat. But I mean, I can't quite see how anybody would bring the racist murder of a black man by a white police officer
13:39
into a conversation about an opportunistic murder of a white boy by a man with a long history of fascination with violence
13:47
and fascination with weapons and a criminal who lied and got briefly believed by the police
13:53
So what do we do? do we have to talk about Nigel Farage today 0345
14:03
I mean it's but again then I'm being I'm not being deliberately disingenuous
14:06
because if you ring me and tell me that we shouldn't be talking about Nigel Farage we're talking about
14:10
Nigel Farage aren't we which is of course what he wants so what do we do
14:16
actually that that's the question what do we do 03456060973 is the number that you need
14:27
What do you do? It's a hideous, hideous murder. If, as is being suggested by some people
14:34
police officers turn up at the scene and are not responding to the fact
14:38
that the person who made the call is the person that you listen to first and are instead deciding to treat people differently
14:44
because they're white, then you have to explain all of the crime statistics in this country that point in in the opposite direction that point completely and comprehensively in the opposite direction so if you have some ghoul some
14:58
monstrous character trying to turn henry's murder into an opportunity not only for self-promotion
15:04
and publicity but also for fermenting and inciting more violence because remember what i told you a
15:11
few months ago. As immigration plummets, these monsters are going to have to start going after
15:15
people who've been here for years. They're going to have to start going after people whose families
15:20
have been here for generations. They're going to have to start going after anybody with a
15:24
slightly foreign surname or with slightly dark skin. Not enough, is it? If immigration comes
15:30
down to net zero, who are they going to tell you to get angry with? Well, on a day like today
15:34
they tell you to get angry with immigrants. Have you ever been on the hook
15:41
for the crime of somebody about whom you know nothing and with whom you have absolutely nothing in common
15:49
The judge has already warned that the Sikh community have been victims of abuse and racism
15:53
I don't get that. Like, a tiny, tiny taste of it when I was a kid
15:58
And some lads at school, presumably copying their fathers, or bringing in stuff from home
16:05
If the IRA committed an atrocity, then the lads at my prep school who had an apostrophe in their surname
16:10
would get a little bit of jip. And you'd be utterly baffled by it
16:16
But, of course, it is the idea that if an Irish organisation
16:19
commits an atrocity, then all Irish people are either in favour of it
16:23
supportive of it or complicit in it. And that's what you have today
16:29
A man who is a Sikh. that's why the word Sikh is inserted inaccurately
16:34
and for my money, indefensibly into the Daily Mail headline in quotes
16:39
as if his father actually said it when as far as I can tell he didn't
16:43
you are now supposed to feel hatred towards not just all Sikhs
16:47
but all brown people and indeed all immigrants because Nigel Farage is trying to make this conversation
16:52
about immigrants and what do you do? how do we respond to that
17:01
0345 6060 973 is the number you need if i don't do what i just did do i make things worse or better
17:11
if you want to go out and set fire to a hotel today or you want to go out and punch a seek in
17:16
the face or you want to go out and uh articulate the cold hard rage that creepy uncle nigel is
17:24
ordering you to feel today i want you to know what you're doing i don't want you to be able to hide
17:29
under a cloak of legitimate concerns or the common man's feelings. You are being encouraged to be a violent racist by a man who
17:41
a couple of summers ago, unleashed a torrent of violent racism upon the streets of our country and has never said anything close to sorry for it
17:49
So if people like me don't point it out, if people like me don't say anything
17:54
then can you still pretend? I haven't heard any comment on the fact that of all the men arrested
17:59
during the Farage riots last time round, I think 20% or more of them have subsequently been arrested
18:05
for domestic abuse. Those are his stormtroopers, if you like. Those are the front line of his fan base
18:14
If you want to follow them, then fine. But I think you need to know what you're doing
18:19
I think you need to know what you're doing. 03456060973. It's with a very, very heavy heart
18:27
and because we respond to events we very very rarely find ourselves in the
18:34
situation of creating events we respond to events I think we have to address the attempts to turn this tragedy
18:42
into poison that Nigel Farage wants to inject into the bloodstream of our population
18:48
I think we have to talk about it tell me why we shouldn't 0345 6060 973 is the number you need
18:56
but also, what do we do about this? What do we do about this
19:02
It's a hideous murder. Elements of it are unbearable. Absolutely unbearable. It was horrible enough before Farage turned up
19:10
trying to make it all about him, because that's what he's doing. And that's why I've got this weird..
19:15
I don't quite know what the word is. This really weird dissonance inside me
19:19
Nigel Farage wants to make the murder of a beautiful 18-year-old boy all about him
19:24
And I'm kind of helping. because I think to stay silent is to let that poison course through the bloodstream of our population
19:32
in the way that it did after Southport, and in a way that he wants it to continue to do so until we all go mad
19:38
and we all turn on each other. Nigel Farage wants Henry Novak's murder to be all about him
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