Henry Nowak's murder: a policing disaster hijacked by politics
6/4/202641 min
Nigel Farage has spent all week trying to weaponise the murder of Henry Nowak for his own political gain. In this episode, Andy & Neil react to the shocking policing which saw Henry wrongly arrested as he lay dying, explain how the officers should have responded in that situation, and debunk Farage's claims that 'two-tier' policing is now prevalent in the UK.
Neil gives a passionate & personal explanation of why those claims that ethnic minorities are now treated better by police than white people are so wide of the mark, and they discuss whether more unrest is likely to follow Tuesday night's riot in Southampton, which involved the notorious far-right activist, Tommy Robinson.
Andy & Neil also analyse whether there is any truth to the idea that national police guidance needs to be reworded, and whether it's time for the law to change to ban people from legally carrying the kirpan, the Sikh ceremonial dagger which was used to kill Henry Nowak.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNeil Basu· Host0:00
[digital-noise music] This is a Global Player original podcast.
Andy Hughes· Host0:05
Frankly, it is one of the most deplorable bits of policing I've ever witnessed.
Neil Basu· Host0:10
This is reprehensible for one simple reason is you have effectively undermined policing in this country.
Andy Hughes· Host0:16
And he creates absolute chaos, and as sure as night follows day, the very same evening he said those comments, there was a riot.
Neil Basu· Host0:23
He's even predicted there will be further violence to come, almost certainly guaranteeing that will be the case. Somebody ought to be investigating him.
Andy Hughes· Host0:31
Effectively what, what they're saying is that they are terrified to be seen as racist.
Neil Basu· Host0:36
Ridiculous. You are not two-tier policing. If one side is arguing that you're not hard enough and the other side is arguing you're not soft enough, I generally think you're probably in about the [laughs] right place. [gentle music] The Crime Agents.
Andy Hughes· Host0:49
Hello, and welcome to this episode of The Crime Agents with me, crime journalist Andy Hughes.
Neil Basu· Host0:54
And me, the ex-cop, Neil Basu.
Andy Hughes· Host0:56
How Henry Novak died is one of the most devastating and catastrophic cases I've ever come across. He was on his way home from a night out with friends. 18 years old, he was. And on his way home, he got into an altercation with another young man, a young Sikh man. Usually, I wouldn't name the ethnicity, but unfortunately, this has become part of the story. He was stabbed in the chest and the attacker's