A police force has apologised after officers handcuffed a fatally injured man despite him telling them he had been stabbed.
Elon Musk has now offered to fund a private prosecution against the UK police force.
The trial of Vickrum Digwa for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton heard that the teenager collapsed and subsequently died after he suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest.
The court was told officers from Hampshire Constabulary had handcuffed him after Digwa told them he had been the victim of a racist attack by Mr Nowak.
The officers took the action to arrest and handcuff Mr Nowak despite his telling them he had been stabbed.
It was only when he collapsed and lost consciousness that officers started to provide first aid.
Digwa was found guilty of murder by jurors on Thursday.
The actions of the officers are now under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
US tech billionaire Elon Musk has said he is willing to fund a private prosecution against the force.
He posted on X: “Unconscionable. I am happy to fund a wrongful death lawsuit against these disgusting excuses for law enforcement. They damn well better have been fired.”
Following the case, temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France has apologised on behalf of the officers but said they were “lied to” and would have been unaware of Mr Nowak’s injury, which he said would not have been obvious.
He said: “This is an absolutely tragic case and my sympathies are absolutely with Henry’s family, his friends and his loved ones.
“I want to apologise, I want to say that I am sorry that Henry couldn’t be saved that night. I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness.
“It’s quite clear that officers didn’t understand what had happened immediately, and that is some of the context I would ask people to understand.
“There had been a delay from those who chose eventually to call them.
“There were lies, lies from Henry’s killer in that 999 phone call, further lies from his killer as officers arrived on scene.
“Despite Henry telling officers he had been stabbed, it took them some minutes to realise what had really happened.
“But within three minutes of that engagement with Henry, they were giving him first aid. They had taken the handcuffs off and they were giving them first aid.”
He added: “We referred ourselves immediately to the Independent Office of Police Conduct the following day and they’ve been independently investigating ever since.
“We are absolutely committed to acting on their findings.
“It’s clear to me the circumstances were complex. For example, Henry’s significant wound, the wound that was fatal, was deep and internal.
“The pathologist was clear in court that it would have been hard to find. The bleeding was inside Henry’s body.
“Sadly, there was nothing the officers could have done that night to save him.”
He added: “We should always listen to someone who is telling us they are injured. Of course, we will look at this and see what we can incorporate into our training, particularly first aid training, in order to improve, and we want to improve every day, the response of our officers.
“That is an absolute tragedy and, of course, if there’s anything we can learn from it, we will.”
Mr France did not confirm whether the force had received any notice of litigation in relation to the case.
He said: “These are private matters for the family and for others. What I’d say is we are absolutely open to any challenge or scrutiny that must come.
“Policing must be transparent, must be open. All I ask is that people consider all of the facts in the case.”
Mr France said the force had engaged with the Sikh and university communities on the issues involved in the case, including the carrying of kirpans – Sikh ceremonial knives such as the one used to kill Mr Nowak.
He said: “The law’s extremely clear in relation to the carrying of kirpans and we have issued guidance to all officers to make sure that where people are in breach of that law, action will be taken, regardless of who they might be, or what community they might come from. If somebody is in breach of the law, then officers will take action.
“We pride ourselves in the way we engage with all communities and we have been engaged with this community since this happened, as we have with the university community, where Henry came from, and the wider community of Southampton.
“And in that engagement, of course, we will cover all issues that might be relevant, including the law.”
An IOPC spokesperson said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with Henry Nowak’s family and everyone affected by his death.
“We are independently investigating the contact Hampshire and Isle of Wight officers had with Mr Nowak prior to his death on December 4, including the use of handcuffs by officers and the first aid provided.
“Our investigation, which began following a mandatory referral from the force that we received the same day, remains ongoing, and the officers involved are currently being treated as witnesses.”
