Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says there are “serious questions for police” after the release of bodycam footage showing how officers responded to the murder of teenager Henry Nowak.
His killer Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed on Monday for a minimum of 21 years for stabbing Nowak with a 21cm (8in) blade he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith.
Bodycam footage shows the 18-year-old Southampton university student being handcuffed and telling police “I can’t breathe” after Digwa lied to officers at the scene of the stabbing, claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack.
On Tuesday evening, several hundred people gathered in Southampton, with clashes between protesters and riot police.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the unrest as “completely unacceptable”.
She said the Nowak family had made a “powerful call” on Monday to “not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension”.
“There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder,” she added.
Speaking to broadcasters earlier on Tuesday, Sir Keir said the bodycam footage was “really harrowing” and he’d “felt sick watching it”.
Sir Keir said the question of “how accusations of racism informed decision making” must be addressed.
Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said an investigation into the police force’s actions was ongoing. It is expected to report within the next three months.
Sir Keir said he would not rule out a wider inquiry into the matter, adding: “It’s important the IOPC do their work at first, but I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a wider inquiry. Of course I’m not.”
Earlier, Mahmood called out a “dangerous undercurrent” in the wake of the killing, which she said was leading to threats.
A police officer was “forced to relocate to protect himself and his family” after being wrongly identified online as being involved in the case, she said.
In an address to the House of Commons, Mahmood warned against opposition MPs politicising the case.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told reporters he had a sense of “cold rage” at the treatment of Nowak and labelled it evidence of a “two-tier Britain”.
“A false accusation of racism counted higher at that moment than someone that was dying,” he said.