Community shocked by violence at Henry Nowak police protest

Protests near the site of 18-year-old Henry Nowak's murder in Southampton left 11 police officers injured on Tuesday - residents and civic leaders have been giving their reactions to the violence.

"The brutal murder of Henry has really shook our community to its core and people are rightly really upset, distressed and sad," Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test, said.

"And actually last night's riots have made people scared too.

"I'm speaking to mums who are scared to send their children out and people that are too scared to actually open the door."

Dozens of missiles and projectiles were launched towards police officers dressed in riot gear during the violence. The police also blocked off a road in the Portswod area where it is believed the family Vickrum Digwa live.

Digwa, 23, was jailed for life after being convicted of Nowak's murder.

Tuesday's violence came after bodycam footage showing Nowak repeatedly telling officers "I can't breathe" as he lay dying in handcuffs was released.

"The majority of the people that were part of the riots actually came from outside the city into the city to cause disorder and disruption, Kaur said.

"Southampton is a great, strong, diverse city and what happened last night does not reflect us.

"It's really important that we unite and all of us come together at this really tragic time and at a time when people should be showing leadership, it's sad to see people using this tragic event to sow divisions and hatred within our communities."

During the clashes a female police officer narrowly avoided being hit by an e-scooter which had been thrown from a height.

Bricks, bottles, gravel, and parts of broken fences were repeatedly launched towards the officers.

Overhead the police helicopter and drone monitored the scene.

Several bloodied protesters were seen to be injured as they and officers clashed.

Eddie Thomas was outside having a cigarette around the corner from where the protests were taking place: "It was absolutely insane - there were bricks being thrown... a bin fire was started literally as we arrived, it was kind of crazy.

"Most of the crowd were quite young... most of the crowd just stood filming."

He said only a third of the crowd was acting "rowdy" and "violent".

"It was a shame though, there was actual heart behind it, I believe there was anger behind it from a community," he added.

"Obviously this isn't just the right way to go about it, but it was kind of sad to be agreeing with this, rally almost, but at the same time, what it's turned into... there's clearly just some kids there who wanted to break and throw some stuff."

Dylan Harwood, who has lived in the area for two years, said: "You could hear it coming down the road - all shouting and screaming and things being thrown at the police officers.

"We stayed quite as far away as we could.

"I understand the cause but to be outside of a care home with vulnerable residents, kids in houses, throwing scooters and bricks at police... I think it's disrespectful to them."

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said 11 officers and one police dog were injured as a result of the events on Tuesday.

Two people have been arrested and the force has warned that this number will rise as investigations continue.

Chief Constable Alexis Boon said: "We understand and appreciate as police officers that we are accountable for our actions. What we, as a society, cannot accept is the violent scenes we saw in Southampton last night.

"I know how intimidating the scenes from last night must have been for those living and working in the area and to you."

He said while he understands the anger towards the police, the community are the ones who have been the most impacted by the protests.

"The community are the ones that are affected by this, when it comes to it, because there was a big clean up this morning... none of us could get out of our house or out of our roads," he added.

"It's not the police that held the full affect of it, it was us, the community."

Additional reporting by Patrick Hughes and Tiffany Rowlands.