An inquest into the murder of Henry Nowak will look into whether the police contributed to the 18-year-old’s death, a coroner has confirmed.
The inquest is due to take back at Winchester Coroner’s Court with a jury on September 20, 2027.
Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton area coroner Jason Pegg said a jury inquest would enable “public and family scrutiny of all the circumstances by which Henry came by his death”.
He said Mr Nowak’s death in custody meant the investigative duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights applies.
“The scope of any inquest where Article 2 is engaged is not simply how someone came by their death, but also in what broader circumstances,” he told Winchester Coroner’s Court today.
He added: “I am not satisfied that the investigations that have taken place to date in relation to the death of Henry Nowak have fully discharged the investigative Article 2 obligation.
“Indeed, those other investigations were not and are not necessarily intended to discharge such obligations.”
Mr Pegg continued: “The issue in this case is likely to be whether any act or omission by a police officer or any delay in the treatment Henry Nowak received caused or contributed to death.
Bodycam footage released by the police earlier this week show Mr Nowak being handcuffed despite telling officers he could not breathe
|
PA / POLICE HANDOUT
“An inquest will allow such scrutiny, it will be a public hearing on the broad circumstances by which Henry came by his death.
“Having an inquest will allow Henry’s family to effectively participate in those proceedings.”
MORE TO FOLLOW…