Vickrum Digwa, 23, told 18-year-old student Henry Nowak ‘I am a bad man’ before fatally stabbing him in the heart – then lying and claiming he was the victim of a racist attack
Vickrum Digwa has been jailed(Image: Hampshire Police/PA Wire)
A man who stabbed a university student to death with a Sikh kirpan knife after telling him “I am a bad man” has been jailed for life.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, launched a brutal attack on 18-year-old Henry Nowak from Chafford Hundred, Essex, before telling a “wicked lie” and claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack.
Henry was stabbed twice to the back of his legs before suffering a fatal wound to his heart on Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3, 2025.
Digwa was filmed by his victim telling him “I am a bad man” moments before the murder. He later told the court that Henry, who he described as drunk, had racially abused him before punching him and knocking his turban off.
Digwa was found guilty of murder at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday. He was also charged with carrying a bladed weapon in public while his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, was found guilty of assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene. Today, Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.
Digwa claimed he had stabbed Henry in self-defence after he 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. He also “lied” by telling officers that he had not stabbed Henry despite the student’s pleas for help as he told the police he was injured.
This led the officers to put Henry in handcuffs as he lay dying despite their efforts to give him first aid.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on X an offer to fund a private prosecution against the police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the circumstances of the incident.
Mark Nowak, the father of Henry Nowak, broke down in tears as he read his victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing today, in which he described the family’s devastation at the loss of his “beautiful son”.
He said: “As a father, it is my job to protect my child and I failed to keep him safe, I was not there when he needed me most, the thought of him lying in the road, scared, bleeding to death will haunt me forever.
“I have been traumatised by not knowing exactly what happened that night. A parent losing a child is the worst thing in the world but not knowing how it happened is like a fate worse than hell.”
Olivia, the sister of Henry Nowak, spoke directly to the defendant as she told him: “If you had known him, you would never have hurt him.” She also told the court: “My brother was my first best friend, an unbreakable bond, we lived our life to the fullest together.”
Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC previously told the court that the defendant, who had been training with weapons since the age of 12, had described the murder weapon in “loving terms” and that he “sleeps in a bedroom with an arsenal of weapons”.
He also said that although Sikhs are permitted in law to carry a kirpan knife, the discrete carrying of a small dagger under clothing was sufficient for the requirements of the religion.
He said the defendant “chose” to carry two knives, one under his clothing while the large knife which was used in the killing was on display. He added: “This is a man who likes weapons. He thinks a knife is a suitable wedding present for his brother.”
