“‘FOREVER 18’ — THREE WORDS THAT ARE BREAKING HEARTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.” Olivia Nowak has shared an emotional tribute to her brother Henry, describing him as her “best friend” and the person whose absence has left a space in her life that can never truly be filled, turning a private expression of grief into a message that is resonating with thousands online. What began as a simple remembrance has become one of the most heartbreaking moments connected to the case, as readers focus on the memories, photos, and deeply personal words that reveal the bond the siblings shared away from public attention. As the tribute continues spreading across social media, many are saying it captures the most painful reality of all—not the headlines or the controversy, but the enduring heartbreak of a sister forced to remember her brother as “Forever 18.”

Henry Nowak’s sister has shared an emotional tribute to her murdered brother.

Olivia Nowak, 22, said she had never felt pain like losing her younger sibling, saying in a post online on Wednesday: “Will miss and love you forever.”

The university student was stabbed with a ceremonial sword by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who then lied and told police he had been racially abused.

Police officers arrested and handcuffed Mr Nowak, 18, as he lay dying in the street, while treating his Sikh killer as a victim.

Body-worn footage of the police response caused anger after it revealed Mr Nowak’s pleas of “I can’t breathe” and “I’ve been stabbed” were dismissed by officers.

On a TikTok account created 10 days after Mr Nowak’s death in December 2025, his sister Olivia has posted two tributes to her brother.

In the first, the pair can be seen dancing and singing together at home and at parties before the video cuts to scenes from a vigil and a row of floral tributes.

Set to Coldplay’s Yellow, the video is captioned: “Will miss and love you forever. Forever 18 brother x x.”

One of four siblings, Mr Nowak grew up in Essex before moving to Southampton for university, where he was a first-year student when he died.

The videos uploaded by his sister show the pair filming themselves dancing between shifts at their local Morrisons and in their family home in Chafford Hundred.

On Wednesday, Mr Nowak’s sister uploaded four photos with the caption: “Never felt pain like this.

“Forever my best friend. Fly high my angel brother #Justiceforhenry #Forever18.”

Three of the images showed the pair smiling and posing for photographs, while the fourth showed a row of young people staring at a bank of floral tributes.

The images were emblazoned with the words “Cos every night I’m talking to the moon” – lyrics from the 2010 Bruno Mars song, Talking to the Moon.

Earlier this week, at Southampton Crown Court, Digwa was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years for stabbing Mr Nowak to death.

Speaking through tears as many of her family wept quietly, Mr Nowak’s sister told the court that her brother “lit up” every room he entered.

She said she “felt sad for those who never got to experience life with Henry”.

Addressing Digwa directly, looking straight at him, she said: “If you had known Henry you would never have hurt him. My life will never be the same without my best friend.”

Ms Nowak, who was 21 when her brother died, added: “My brother had my whole heart. He was a part of me, and I lost a part of myself when he died.”

Talking about her brother, she said: “The real pain is knowing that I’m going to miss you for longer than I got to enjoy life with you.

“My brother didn’t deserve to be forever 18… My brother was my first best friend from the day he was born.”

Ms Nowak stood next to her father, Mark, as he delivered a statement to the media outside court after the sentencing.

Speaking on the court steps, Mr Nowak appealed for calm and said the family wanted his “heartbreaking story to make change for the better”.

He said: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to make our streets safer for everyone.”

Hampshire police officers’ decision to handcuff Mr Nowak as he lay dying, while treating his Sikh killer as a victim, has prompted a row over “two-tier” policing and led to calls for race-bias guidance for police to be scrapped.

Speaking for the first time about the controversy, Alexis Boon, the chief constable of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, rejected accusations of “two-tier” policing and ignored calls to rewrite anti-racism guidelines.

He said a “furore” had been “whipped up” about the murder of the teenager and he would not be resigning.

Sir Keir Starmer clashed with Nigel Farage in the Commons after the Reform UK leader called on the Prime Minister to “end this divisive practice of two-tier policing”, while the Prime Minister condemned as “unforgivable” Mr Farage’s call for the public to react to Mr Nowak’s killing with “pure cold rage”.

Mr Nowak, Lucy Ross, the teenager’s mother, and Katie Woodcock, his stepmother, met Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, on Thursday before meeting the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

*SOURCE BY THE TELEGRAPH