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Six more charged with violent disorder after Nowak protest

News imageReuters Protest outside police station in Southampton following conviction of Vikrum Digwa for murder of Henry Nowak, in SouthamptonReuters
Police and protesters clashed in Southampton on Tuesday evening

Six more men have been charged following protests held in Southampton after the murder of Henry Nowak.

Hampshire Police said the men, aged in their 20s and 30s - four from Southampton, one from Gosport and Romsey - were charged following violent disorder in the city on Tuesday night.

The protests followed the release of police bodycam footage showing 18-year-old Nowak being placed in handcuffs after he had been stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who was jailed for life on Monday.

All six have been remanded in custody and are due to appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court later. This brings the total number of people charged following the protests to 11.

News imagePA Media police and protestors clashing in Southampton during a protest following the death of Henry Nowak.PA Media
Police were pelted with missiles in clashes on Tuesday evening near the home of Nowak's killer, Vickrum Digwa, in the Portswood area

The following five men have been now been charged with violent disorder:

  • Kevin Reeves, 31, of Portswood Road, Southampton
  • Andrew Riddett, 38, of Seacombe Green, Southampton
  • Harry Varney, 34, of Briarswood, Southampton
  • Taylor Grundy, 22, of Pavillion Way, Gosport
  • Dillon Crawford, 29, of Wilton Avenue, Southampton

A sixth man, Andrew Summerhayes, 38, of Banning Street, Romsey, has been charged with violent disorder and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

To date four men have pleaded guilty to violent disorder, one of them also having a dog lead with a metal carabiner as an offensive weapon, and one has denied assaulting a police officer.

Connor Bishop, 24, Reece Robinson, 21, and Noah Etherington, 18, admitted violent disorder during magistrates' court hearings in Southampton and Portsmouth on Friday.

Daniel Frost, 44, of Southampton, pleaded guilty on Thursday to violent disorder and possessing a dog lead with a metal carabiner as an offensive weapon following the protests.

Also on Thursday, 50-year-old Matt Styler, of Gosport, pleaded not guilty to assaulting a police officer.

Nowak, from Chafford Hundred in Essex, was fatally stabbed in Southampton in December by Digwa, who falsely claimed he had been racially abused and had acted in self-defence.

Nowak was a first-year accountancy and finance student at the University of Southampton.

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