I heard Henry Nowak get stabbed and lived through the aftermath of vigils, counter-vigils and memorial vandalisms.

Belmont Road in Southampton where the murder occurred has some Victorian terrace houses, and some large, detached houses. If you drive through without paying much attention you would think it is a middle to upper class neighbourhood, an impression reinforced by the Sainsburys and Waitrose not too far away. However, if you look closer, some details suggest otherwise. The streets are permanently dirty with all kinds of rubbish, most of the large houses are divided into many small flats, and the ‘for sale’ signs seem far more than normal.

I had been an army officer which develops your ability to assess danger, probably to the point of paranoia. Without wanting to, you assess the danger of every place you are in. In the army, what scared us was not the clear dangers, we knew what to do in those situations, and of course we knew what to do when there was no danger. What really scares you when you are in the army are the situations that lull you into a false sense of security. Belmont Road has just enough going for it to lull you into that false sense.

In the short time I was there I saw many crimes. The night Henry Nowak was murdered I heard some horrible screams that sounded like someone was being stabbed. I hoped it was not as bad as it sounded but I knew.

The next morning Belmont Road was cordoned off. Initially we were told one 18-year-old student attacked four people and that the police were trying to understand what happened.

Some people put flowers, cards, and some other items such as a book of his team Arsenal. The items gave it a more personal touch than the usual flowers. These flowers and items were repeatedly vandalised. They were thrown on the floor, and it looked like they had been kicked and stamped on. Was this really about one murderer or was this something wider about this area? The murderer was in custody. Who were vandalising the flowers?

When there was a vigil in front of Portswood police station where some flowers and pictures were placed, there was a ‘counter protest’ by people claiming to be against racists! I never heard of a counter-vigil!

I walked past the point he was murdered on my way back from work on the day the court convicted the murderer, someone put white flowers and wrote on a piece of paper ‘Justice’. It was perfect, the right word for closure. On my way to work the next day someone had smeared pink ice cream over the paper, and it was now laying down crumbled up, instead of standing up against the tree where it was placed.

Dr Alex Zarifis, Southampton