Two people arrested after unrest in Southampton following murder of Henry Nowak

Two people were arrested after unrest in Southampton following the murder of Henry Nowak, policing minister Sarah Jones said.

She urged people not to “overreact” following the murder of the student by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, who told police attending the scene of the stabbing in Southampton on December 3 last year that he had been the victim of a racist attack.

Ms Jones told Times Radio: “Some of what we saw yesterday was unacceptable. There have been two arrests, as I understand it from my briefing this morning, one for assault of a police officer, one for possession of a weapon.

“We can’t allow – and the family said this, and we have to take our lead from them, and they have acted with such dignity, it’s quite extraordinary and I think most of us feel that we couldn’t possibly do that if we were in that situation – but they have said we do not want to create further division, hatred, or tension, and I think we need to respect that.”

Digwa was jailed for 21 years on Monday for the murder of Nowak, 18, who was on his way home from a night out.

The victim was handcuffed by police as he lay dying at the scene after Digwa lied, claiming he had been racially abused by the teen and had acted in self-defence. He told officers his turban had been knocked off and that he had been injured.