Vickrum Digwa was jailed for life on Monday for murdering Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old University of Southampton student he stabbed five times in Southampton. The 23-year-old will serve at least 20 years before he can apply for parole.
The sentence brings a grim end to a case that began with a late-night walk home and ended with a fatal attack on a young man from Essex. Digwa had followed Nowak after a night out with his football team, then used a 21cm-long knife before telling officers the victim had racially abused him and knocked his turban off.
That false claim mattered because police handcuffed and arrested Nowak before they had seen the extent of his injuries. Hampshire police later apologised for their actions, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is still investigating how the scene was handled. The case also drew criticism after it received global attention.
Judge Mousley KC told Digwa, “You have brought shame on your family, your community and your religion,” and said his actions had stirred up racial tension that left many Sikhs worried about their safety. He also said, “I am sure Henry said nothing racist,” rejecting the account Digwa gave at the scene.
Digwa had claimed he carried the knife for religious reasons. His defence said he wore a small kirpan under his clothing that met his religious obligation, while also carrying the much larger blade. Prosecutors said he chose to keep both, and Nicholas Lobbenberg KC described the killing as a sustained attack on an unarmed man. He also told the jury Digwa was “a man with a weapon obsession.”
Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, said he had taken his son to university a few weeks before the murder and helped set up his room. He said he last saw him when he returned home to see a pantomime, a family tradition, and added: “I couldn’t help Henry in his final moments and there is nothing I can do to bring him back.” For the family, Monday’s sentence closes one part of the case, but the police watchdog inquiry still has to answer how the victim ended up handcuffed before officers understood what had happened.
