Vickrum Digwa, 23, has been found guilty of murdering university student Henry Nowak, who he stabbed to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial knife
Henry Nowak was stabbed to death(Image: Family/Solent News)
A man has been found guilty of the murder of an 18-year-old university student by stabbing him to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade.
Vickrum Digwa told police a “wicked lie” that he was the victim of a racist attack after he stabbed finance student Henry Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, five times in the incident in Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3 2025.
He was filmed by his victim telling him “I am a bad man” moments before the knife attack, which included two stab wounds to the back of Mr Nowak’s legs and a fatal wound to his heart.
The 23-year-old was also convicted of carrying a bladed weapon in public and his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, was found guilty of assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene.
Giving evidence, the defendant told the court that Mr Nowak, who he described as drunk, had racially abused him before punching him and knocking his turban off.
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.
But the prosecution said Digwa had told a “wicked lie” to police who attended the scene by telling them he had been the victim of a racist attack.
He also “lied” by telling officers that he had not stabbed Mr Nowak despite the student’s pleas for help as he told the police that he was injured.
This led the officers to arrest Mr Nowak and putting him in handcuffs moments before he collapsed and became unconscious before dying despite their efforts to give him first aid.
During the trial, Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the jury the accountancy and finance student was sending Snapchat videos to friends as he was walking home from a night out with his football team when the fatal incident happened.
He said Mr Nowak had drunk less than the drink-drive limit during the evening. “His phone captures the moment he met Vickrum Digwa,” Mr Lobbenberg said. “Vickrum Digwa was carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing.
“At half-past midnight that night, Henry was dead, he had been fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa using that knife, the knife that Vickrum Digwa has chosen to carry out on to the street.
“The killing wasn’t seen by anyone other than Henry and Vickrum Digwa, the neighbours heard the aftermath as Henry complained that he had been stabbed and that he was dying, tragically Henry was right on both counts.
“After he had been stabbed, Henry climbed on to a bin and over a fence to try and escape but he had already been fatally wounded and there was a blood trail on the street which demonstrates that he must have been stabbed before he climbed on to the bin and over the fence. Vickrum Digwa chose to aggressively pursue him.”
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.
