Vickrum Digwa has been found guilty of murdering 18-year-old Henry Nowak after stabbing the University of Southampton student to death with a ceremonial knife in Southampton. A jury at Southampton Crown Court rejected Digwa’s self-defence claim and also convicted him of carrying a knife in public.

The verdict brings a grim answer to the case that has shadowed Henry’s family since 3 December, and it puts the focus now on Monday’s sentencing at Southampton Crown Court. Nowak, a first-year student from Chafford Hundred in Essex, had been walking back to his accommodation after drinking below the drink-drive limit when he was attacked.

Prosecutors said Nowak was stabbed five times, including twice in the back of his legs, once in the face and once in the chest, the wound that killed him. Neighbours heard him say he had been stabbed and was dying. He tried to get away by climbing over a fence, leaving a trail of blood behind him before he collapsed.

Digwa had said he was carrying the 21cm blade as part of his Sikh faith and claimed Nowak used a racist insult, punched him and knocked off his turban. But the jury did not accept that account. In court, Digwa described the accusation against him as a “wicked lie,” a line that did not move the panel away from the prosecution case.

The case also exposed an earlier failure by police. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct after officers initially handcuffed and arrested Nowak as he lost consciousness. Robert France later apologised, saying officers had been lied to in a 999 call made by Digwa’s brother, a response he called “extremely complex.”

Digwa gave the knife to his mother, Kiran Kaur, and police later found it at the family home along with more than 20 other Sikh weapons. Kaur was found guilty of assisting an offender and is due to be sentenced on 17 July. For Digwa, the legal question is now narrower: how long the court will keep him behind bars when he returns on Monday.