Alex Chalk to Lead Independent Review Into Henry Nowak Murder
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has ordered an independent review into the murder of Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old student stabbed in Southampton last December, to be led by the former lord chancellor Alex Chalk KC. “We must get to truth of what happened before, during and after that awful night,” she told the Commons.
The case drew national scrutiny after police bodycam footage showed the teenager handcuffed as he lay dying, having told officers he was injured. The review runs in two phases. The first examines police, health services, councils, schools and faith organisations for missed chances to intervene; Mr Chalk said it would ask whether reports were held back out of a “misplaced sense of cultural sensitivity”. The second waits for the police watchdog’s own investigation and will examine its conduct too. Initial findings are due within five months. The family welcomed it, saying they had “fought tirelessly for answers to questions no family should ever have to ask”.