A man has been jailed for life for murdering an 18-year-old University of Southampton student with a Sikh ceremonial knife.<\/p>\n
Vickrum Digwa, 23, stabbed finance student Henry Nowak five times with a 21cm blade that he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith.<\/p>\n
It happened on Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3, 2025.<\/p>\n
Digwa, who must serve at least 21 years in prison, told police that Mr Nowak, who he described as drunk, had racially abused him before punching him and knocking his turban off.<\/p>\n
He said he had stabbed Mr Nowak to the back of his legs in self-defence after Mr Nowak had threatened him and grabbed him by the hair, but said he had not realised at the time he had caused the fatal stab wound to his chest.<\/p>\n
The incident took place in Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3, 2025. Credit: ITV News Meridian<\/p>\n
But during the trial, the prosecution said Digwa had “lied” and deceived officers who attended the scene by claiming that he had not stabbed Mr Nowak despite the student’s pleas for help.<\/p>\n
That led officers to arrest Mr Nowak and place him in handcuffs moments before he collapsed and became unconscious.<\/p>\n
He died despite their best efforts to give him first aid.<\/p>\n
Hampshire Police has released bodycam of officers attending the scene. <\/p>\n
At the sentencing hearing at Southampton Crown Court today (1 June), Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, said: \u201cThis was a sustained attack on an unarmed man. The defendant is skilled with weapons, he trained with weapons, he sleeps in a room with weapons, he searches for weapons on his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Crown says he is a man with a weapons obsession. He chose to use a weapon on the streets of Southampton, this demonstrates in his mind what he had was a weapon ready and available for his use.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Henry Nowak dying alone, humiliated and handcuffed was a direct consequence of Vickrum Digwa\u2019s dishonesty.<\/p>\n
\u201cVickrum Digwa chose on two occasions to make videos, first of Henry fleeing and then of Henry dying with close-ups of his face. The Crown says that is both intrusive and humiliating.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis defence describing Henry as a violent drunk racist aggressor compounds the grief of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge William Mousley KC told the defendant: “You, Vickrum Digwa, murdered him. By doing so, you robbed him of all those he loved, all the things he cared about and liked to do. He would have been expected to live a long, hopefully, happy and fulfilling life. <\/p>\n
“You have brought misery and a lifetime of loss upon his family and great sadness to everyone who knew him.”<\/p>\n
He added: “You have brought shame upon your family, your community and your religion. Your actions have stirred up racial tension in Southampton and across the country which have made many Sikhs worried about their own safety even though they have done absolutely nothing wrong.”<\/p>\n
Henry’s family read out a statement outside Southampton Crown Court Credit: ITV News Meridian<\/p>\n
Lucy, the mother of Henry, said in a statement read to the court: \u201cHenry was ambitious, determined and full of life, he was a messy sod and always hungry, but he had his whole life ahead of him, that future has been cruelly taken away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact of his loss has been devastating not only for me but for our entire family and for all who knew him, we are learning to support one another through this unimaginable grief, but the pain is constant, our family will never be the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will never be forgotten and he will always be loved beyond words. No sentence handed down will bring Henry back.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also described the moment her son told her, his face \u201cbeaming\u201d, that he had been an offered a place to study at the University of Southampton while on holiday in Greece, adding: \u201cIt was one of the proudest moments of my life and a moment I will treasure forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, is calling on the Government “to treat knife crime as the national emergency that it is.”<\/p>\n
Olivia, Henry’s sister, spoke directly to the defendant as she told him: \u201cIf you had known him, you would never have hurt him.\u201d<\/p>\n
She told the court: \u201cMy brother was my first best friend, an unbreakable bond, we lived our life to the fullest together.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cHe lit up every room that he walked into and the world became less valuable the day he left.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described him as \u201cfunny, handsome, precious and kind\u201d, and added: \u201cMy brother should not be forever 18, he deserved to grow old and start a family of his own, to be an uncle to my children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking outside court, Henry’s father Mark Nowak, said: \u201cHenry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.<\/p>\n
Henry Nowak was walking back home to his student accommodation after a night out when the incident happened Credit: Hampshire Police<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me be absolutely clear \u2013 we hold Vickrum Digwa solely and 100% responsible for the brutal murder of our son. But Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody. The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis murderer, however, was afforded decency. He was believed. He was not handcuffed when arrested. He was not handcuffed when transported to the police station.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as we understand, he was never handcuffed at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, as Vickrum Digwa himself told the court, while under arrest for Henry\u2019s murder, police even took him to the kitchen so he could choose his food. The contrast is unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Nowak described the police treatment of his son as \u201cshocking\u201d and added: \u201cThe IOPC investigation remains ongoing. <\/p>\n
“While we await its final report, we are calling on the Home Secretary to ensure that the IOPC has the resources, authority and independence it needs to conduct a full, fearless and transparent investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family should not have to fight for the truth anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones says the manner in which Henry Nowak lost his life is a national tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear the way in which Henry died is harrowing,” the Commisioner added.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we have heard from Henry\u2019s family, and the lifelong grief they will endure. Henry was falsely accused of racially aggravated assault as he lay dying on the ground, while his attacker stood by denying the violent act he had inflicted upon him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe incident that led to Henry being arrested and handcuffed was part of Digwa\u2019s cruel intentions to frame himself as the victim.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is devasting the officers did not believe Henry when he said he\u2019d been stabbed and couldn\u2019t breathe. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen officers realised he was gravely wounded, they uncuffed him and started CPR.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis death is a national tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe details of the police response raises serious concerns about police impartiality, fairness and judgement. <\/p>\n
\u201cHampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has apologised for handcuffing and arresting Henry minutes before he died.<\/p>\n
Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was found guilty of assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the scene Credit: Hampshire Police<\/p>\n
\u201cThe force also referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) the day after Henry lost his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe findings of the IOPC review will be published, and as Commissioner I am committed to ensuring the findings are implemented without delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cCentral to this incident is the fact that Vickrum Digwa was able to carry a knife in public because there is an exemption for those who observe the Sikh faith to carry ceremonial daggers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Commissioner, I intend to write to the Prime Minister to request a national review of the laws concerning the carrying of bladed articles under religious exemptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing can bring Henry back. There is no doubt Henry\u2019s last moments were terrifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts my remain with his family and I will do everything I can to ensure this can never happen again in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Digwa’s mother Kiran Kaur, 53, who was found guilty of assisting an offender, is due to be sentenced on July 17.<\/p>\n
Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below…<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man has been jailed for life for murdering an 18-year-old University of Southampton student with a Sikh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-615969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}