Two men jailed for violent disorder at Southampton protest following Henry Nowak murder and police conduct controversy

Unbiased summary

Leon O'Leary, 41, and Connor Bishop, 24, have been jailed for violent disorder at a protest in Southampton on 2 June 2025. O'Leary received three years and one month after throwing a smoke grenade at police; Bishop received two years and eight months for throwing a traffic cone. Both pleaded guilty. O'Leary also admitted resisting arrest and possessing a samurai sword found at his home. They are the first of 21 charged individuals to be sentenced. The protest followed the release of police bodycam footage showing 18-year-old Henry Nowak handcuffed while dying after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, who falsely claimed racial victimhood. Approximately 1,000 attended; 12 officers and a police dog were injured. The IOPC has launched an investigation into police conduct.

Coverage by outlet

The Guardian left

Angle Frames the protest primarily as a response to legitimate grievances about police treatment of Nowak, with far-right involvement noted as a complicating factor.

Bias The Guardian prominently includes Nowak's father's condemnation of police and his plea against using the death to sow division, contextualising the disorder within genuine community anger. It explicitly names Tommy Robinson and labels him a 'far-right activist', which is factually defensible but editorially foregrounded. It omits detail about Digwa's false racism claim and the IOPC investigation, which are relevant to understanding public anger, and avoids the word 'riots', preferring neutral terms like 'violent clashes'.

Two men jailed for violence at protest over police treatment of Henry Nowak

BBC News centre-left

Angle Presents a broadly factual account of the sentencing while providing important context about both police conduct and Digwa's deception.

Bias The BBC is the most comprehensive in balancing multiple aspects of the story: it includes Digwa's false racism claim, the IOPC investigation, injury figures, and details of both defendants' conduct in court. It avoids inflammatory language and does not foreground political angles. A minor omission is the presence of Tommy Robinson at the protest, which is a contextually relevant fact reported by other outlets.

Men jailed for violence at Henry Nowak police protest

The Independent centre-left

Angle Uses the sentencing report as a launchpad to analyse Kemi Badenoch's political use of the Nowak case as a culture-war manoeuvre against Reform.

Bias The Independent published two separate articles: one factual sentencing report and one political opinion piece. The news report is detailed and largely neutral, adding granular court detail others omit. However, the second piece frames Badenoch's equalities reform proposals primarily as cynical electoral positioning rather than principled policy, explicitly downplaying the possibility that the Nowak case raises legitimate questions about the application of equality law. This editorialises heavily on Conservative and Reform motivations while presenting the political critique as analysis.

Two men jailed for violent disorder at Henry Nowak police protest in Southampton

Badenoch’s attack on equality laws is less about Henry Nowak and more about taking on Reform

Daily Mail right

Angle Frames the defendants as straightforward criminals ('thugs') and consistently emphasises Digwa's Sikh identity and false racism claim as central to the story.

Bias The Daily Mail uses the word 'thugs' to describe the defendants, which is editorialising rather than neutral reporting. It repeatedly identifies Digwa as 'Sikh' and references the 'bogus' racism claim more prominently than other outlets, framing the broader context in a way that foregrounds racial and religious identity. It also uses the word 'riots' rather than 'protest' or 'disorder', escalating the severity of the event in language. It omits any mention of Tommy Robinson's presence and does not reference the IOPC investigation, both of which are relevant facts.

Two men who hurled grenade and traffic cone at police jailed as they become the first men sentenced for violent disorder at Henry Nowak protests