Kemi Badenoch accuses police officers of ‘cover up’ over Henry Nowak murder

The killer was originally jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years, but this was increased to 25 years on Thursday after the Court of Appeal found it was “unduly lenient”.

Now, the Conservative Party leader has suggested there could have been a “cover up”.

Mrs Badenoch told ITV News: “If what they are saying is true, then yes, it looks like there has been a cover-up. But that’s why we need to see this investigation.”

The Leader of the Opposition also said she does “not have that full confidence” in the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is currently investigating the official response to the incident.

She said: “There are lots of good people who work in the IOPC, but I have heard enough complaints from families like the Novaks, the Kumars, the Webbers and even the police themselves to know that something is not working quite right.

“I think that what we need to do is make sure that we have a look at what’s going on rather than just assume that everything is fine.

“The IOPC does a lot of good work, but I’m not in a place to say that there have not been failings and so I can’t give that full confidence.”

A Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesman said: “We are incredibly sorry that in Henry’s final moments, when he needed us most, we failed him. Henry’s family have rightly raised serious concerns about the police response and their treatment throughout the investigation.”

The force added that it is co-operating fully with reviews and investigations.

The Crown Prosecution Service said: “We were unable to share sensitive evidence with Henry’s family until the case was trial-ready, to avoid any risk of prejudicing proceedings. We discussed this with the family.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed its investigation into potential failures in the police response to Mr Nowak’s stabbing is expected to wrap up early next year after announcing in July that two officers were under investigation for potential gross misconduct.

In the same documentary, Shabana Mahmood has signalled she is considering a change to knife laws.

Digwa was carrying a small knife hidden from view called a kirpan, according to Judge William Mousley KC at his sentencing hearing at Southampton Crown Court in June.

He also had a “large dagger in a sheath” which was 21cm long because he was part of an order of Sikhs called the Nihang, who carry a second knife by tradition.

While it is generally a crime to carry a knife in public, there are exceptions for penknives and blades carried for work, as well as for blades carried for religious reasons.

Henry’s father Mark said: “I fully understand the need to carry a kirpan but surely that should be defined in law, in terms of size and type and whether it should be visible, and so on and so forth. Therefore, anything else should be made illegal.”

Asked about his suggestion, Ms Mahmood said: “I haven’t taken any options off the table.

“I’m also not going in with a fixed mind about what the right clarifications of the law might be.

“It’s important to get the right balance between religious expression in this country, which is something that many of us of a faith, including myself, hold very dearly, but do so in a way that is within what we expect of our citizens for the purposes of the criminal law.”

Mrs Badenoch said lawmakers “do need to look at” knife laws, adding: “There is no freedom to murder in any religion and I think that we need to bring some common sense into this.”

Mrs Badenoch also said: “This is something that we do need to look at because we want to make sure that religious minorities are integrated into our culture and that people don’t use loopholes which exist for religious minorities to commit crimes.

“I don’t think using a religious object should allow you to have a lesser sentence.

“If somebody hurts you with a wooden crucifix, they shouldn’t get a lighter sentence.”