Murder of Henry Nowak
Nowak leaving his accommodation three hours before his murder
Location	Southampton, Hampshire, England
Date	3 December 2025 c. 11:30 pm
Attack type	Stabbing
Weapon	Dagger[a]
Victim	Henry Nowak
Perpetrator	Vickrum Digwa
Convictions	Murder
Convicted	Vickrum Digwa - murder Kiran Kaur - assisting an offender
Sentence	Life imprisonment (with a minimum term of 21 years)[1]

On 3 December 2025, Henry Nowak (/ˈnoʊvæk/), an 18‑year‑old British university student, was murdered by Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old British Sikh man, in Southampton, England. Digwa stabbed Nowak five times with a dagger,^{[a][disputed – discuss]} including a fatal wound to the chest. When police officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary arrived, Digwa falsely accused Nowak of assault and racism. Police body camera footage showed that as the police handcuffed him, Nowak repeatedly told the officers that he had been stabbed and pleaded that he could not breathe. Nowak died shortly afterwards.

Just before the stabbing, Nowak had recorded Digwa walking away from him during a verbal altercation. According to the court, Digwa later grabbed Nowak's phone to prevent being recorded, which led to a physical struggle; there were no eyewitnesses to the stabbing itself. Digwa falsely claimed he acted in self-defence after Nowak pursued him, made racist remarks and punched him; there was no evidence for any of these claims, leading the court to conclude that Digwa entirely fabricated these allegations in an attempt to justify stabbing Nowak.

The jury convicted Digwa of murder on 28 May 2026. Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, was found guilty of assisting an offender by hiding the murder weapon. The judge rejected Digwa's accusations that Nowak had physically or racially abused him. Digwa received a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years. The police response to the crime was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Over the following days, public protests took place in Southampton, in which two people were arrested; police reported that 11 officers and a police dog were injured.

Henry Nowak was an 18-year-old British student in his first year studying accountancy at the University of Southampton. He grew up in Chafford Hundred, Essex.^[6]

On the evening of 3 December 2025, some time before 11:30 pm, Nowak was walking in the area of Belmont Road in the Portswood suburb of Southampton.^[7] He was walking home after a night out, but was under the drink-drive limit.^[8]

Nowak began recording Vickrum Digwa. A Snapchat video recovered from Nowak's phone captured him saying "Hello car" and singing to himself before yawning, while Digwa walked away from him. Nowak continued: "Innit bad man, what bad man. You're a bad man, say you're a bad man, go on." Digwa, still walking away in the video, replied: "I am a bad man".^[8][9] Digwa inflicted five "stab wounds or cuts" on Nowak,^[10] with the 21-centimetre (8.3 in) dagger he was carrying,^{[11][8][disputed – discuss]} including a fatal wound to Nowak's chest and additional wounds to his legs.^[12]

There were no eyewitnesses to the attack. Neighbours called the police after hearing Nowak calling out that he had been stabbed and was dying. Digwa's brother, Gurpreet Digwa, also made a 999 call; he lied to the police that Digwa had been the victim of a racial attack.^[13] Nowak attempted to get away by climbing onto a bin and then over a fence. He had already suffered fatal injuries; a blood trail indicated he had already been stabbed.^[14] Digwa called his parents, who arrived before police. Kiran Kaur, his mother, took Digwa's knife and hid it at their home.^[15] Digwa filmed Nowak fleeing and recorded another video as he lay dying; both were cited as aggravating factors at Digwa's sentencing.^[16]

When Hampshire Police officers arrived, they spoke to Digwa while Nowak lay on the ground, having been stabbed. The bodycam footage showed that Nowak repeatedly told the police officers "I can't breathe" as the police handcuffed him^[17] and his lungs filled with blood.^[15] Nowak can be heard saying "I've been stabbed" nine times; a male police officer replies, "Don't think you have, mate." Nowak became unresponsive before any call for emergency medical services was made.^[18][19]

Digwa told the officers that Nowak was drunk and had punched him, used a racial slur against him and pulled his turban off. The officers pulled Nowak along the ground and handcuffed him.^[20][21] He died at the scene at 12:37 am.^[15]

Police allowed Digwa to meet his brother. In a covertly recorded conversation in Punjabi language, Digwa's brother advised him to claim self‑defence.^[16] Digwa said he would not be able to do so if there were security cameras on the street.^[16]

Nowak's funeral was attended by 650 people.^[22] In February 2026, a football match between the two university teams he had played for was held in his memory and raised funds for a bereavement charity.^[6]

On 22 May 2026 at Southampton Crown Court, Digwa pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter and carrying a knife in public.^[23] Judge William Mousley instructed the jury to consider manslaughter as an alternative to murder, explaining that if a person did not intentionally cause the fatal injury or did not intend to kill or cause serious harm, they would not be guilty of murder.^[24] Kaur was charged with assisting an offender by removing the weapon and pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution, led by Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, told the jury that Nowak's blood alcohol level was below the drink-drive limit, and that he had been filming a Snapchat video capturing Digwa walking away from him prior to the stabbing. The footage was shown to the jury. Lobbenberg said that "the killing wasn't seen by anyone other than Henry and Vickrum Digwa" and that, after the stabbing, Digwa "chose to aggressively pursue" Nowak.^[25]

In court, when asked why he had not told the police that he stabbed Nowak, Digwa said he was scared because it was the "first time anything like this had ever happened". He alleged that Nowak had threatened him earlier with racist remarks and begun recording him. In his account, after being taunted, he grabbed Nowak's phone and a fight broke out, during which Nowak said "I'm going to kill you". Digwa said that he acted in self-defence and further testified that his mother and father arrived at the scene, taking the knife back to their home. Defence barristers told the jury they had to consider whether Digwa had acted "in the heat of the moment".^[11][12]

Digwa was carrying two ceremonial knives at the time of the murder: a small knife known as a kirpan, under his clothing, and the 21-centimetre dagger used to stab Nowak.^[26][27] Gurnam Singh, a professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, said in court that the external weapon was worn as a sign of membership of the Nihang order, but that there was "no good reason" to wear the larger blade as it is not a strict requirement of the faith.^[27]

On 27 May, the jury retired to consider a verdict.^[28] On 28 May, it rejected the claims of self-defence and found Digwa guilty of murder, and Kaur guilty of assisting an offender. Digwa was sentenced on 1 June, with Kaur to be sentenced on 17 July.^[29][30]

During the sentencing on 1 June, the judge said that Digwa's claim of being barged into by Nowak was a lie, but that Nowak "cheekily" called him a "bad man". The judge said: "You lied to [your brother] that you had been attacked, picking up on his question about whether it had been accompanied by racism by falsely claiming that Henry had called you a "Paki". I am sure that Henry had said nothing racist. You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character." The judge also said that during the confrontation, when Digwa grabbed Nowak's phone to prevent being filmed, it appeared that Digwa's turban "may have been knocked, pulled or, potentially, punched off" his head. The judge said that, as the turban is a sacred part of Sikh identity, it was understandable that Digwa may have perceived this as a sign of disrespect and that it would have increased his anger.^[16] He said Digwa had given a "convincing but wholly false narrative of the incident". The judge said Digwa had brought shame on his family and other Sikhs and caused racial tension. Digwa received a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years.^[1]

Following the trial, Digwa, as well as his father and brother, were charged with other weapons-based offences.^[31]

The police response to the incident was refered to the Independent Office for Police Conduct who are currently conducting a review into the events.^[32] On 2 June, it was reported that one of the officers involved with the case had resigned.^[33] The IOPC stated, however, that the officers involved are currently being treated strictly as witnesses.^[32]

Following Digwa's sentencing, the attorney general received "multiple requests" to review the jail sentence under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.^[34]

After sentencing, Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the murder as an "awful, shocking case" and welcomed the IOPC investigation.^[35]

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the House of Commons that the "police appeared more concerned with the accusation of racism than they were with helping Henry".^[36]

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the murder as "absolutely appalling". She said she blamed "the training that police have been given, all of this nonsense that came in after the Black Lives Movement". She added: "I do not want police looking at the colour of your skin when they're deciding how to treat you. I think they are, because that's what they're being taught."^[37]

Robert Jenrick of Reform UK raised the incident in the House of Commons. He called it a scandal, asked what the Home Secretary was doing to investigate police conduct, and requested a debate on what he described as "two-tier policing".^[38] He also said that Reform UK would seek to ban ceremonial knives from being carried in public.^[39]

Suella Braverman, also of Reform UK and a former Conservative Home Secretary, called for the release of the police body‑worn camera footage.^[40]

On 2 June, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, posted a video on social media in which he alleged an undercurrent of demonstrable two-tier policing "where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities",^[21] adding that "white lives matter too and there's got to be a way to end anti-white prejudice",^[41] and urged the public to react to the actions of the police with "pure, cold rage", saying it resulted from two-tier policing due to the anti-racism guidance given to them.^[42] The following day, during Prime Minister's Questions, Farage, with reference to police anti-racism guidance, asked Starmer to take action against what he again said was two-tier policing. Starmer accused him of ignoring the requests of a "grieving family" to "please not exploit" their son's death.^[43]

Temporary deputy chief constable Robert France of Hampshire Constabulary said: "The facts heard in court should leave no doubt in anyone's mind who was lying to officers that night, and why we didn't immediately understand what had happened."^[44]

On 2 June, Hampshire Police released body‑worn camera footage showing the officers' arrival, their interactions with Digwa and Nowak, and Nowak's death after being handcuffed.^[45][46] On 3 June, Chief Constable Alexis Boon apologised to Nowak's family.^[47][48]

During Digwa's trial, the judge cited an assessment of the pathologist, stating: "No emergency medical treatment would have permitted access to the bleeding vein. In simple terms, he would not have survived, however quickly he received first aid, CPR or expert medical treatment," indicating the police delay in treating Nowak did not lead to his death.^[49]

Nowak's family called his treatment by police "inhumane and degrading", and, despite the "shocking actions" of the police, they expressed their "heartfelt gratitude" to the murder investigation team.^[50] Nowak's father said that while he held only Digwa responsible for the murder, he said Digwa was not handcuffed at the scene and may never have been handcuffed at all.^[1] He also stated that he "[did] not want [Henry]'s death to be used to create further division, hatred, or tension" and quoted prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg as saying: "This is not a case about racism. This is a case about murder."^[51]

The Supreme Sikh Council, an umbrella organisation representing Sikh community leaders across the UK, announced that it would convene to review safeguards around the carrying of ceremonial knives, alongside a strengthened educational campaign on Sikh responsibilities.^[52] The UK Sikh Federation wrote to Shabana Mahmood after reporting a "huge increase" in anti-Sikh hate crimes following the trial, asking for strengthened legislation.^[39]

After sentencing, a local gurdwara said it had banned Digwa "long ago" for his conduct,^[1] specifically for stealing ceremonial "shaster" knives in 2023; this had been reported to the police, although no charges resulted.^[53]

US billionaire businessman Elon Musk called the police officers "disgusting" and demanded they be fired. He also offered to fund a wrongful death lawsuit and a private prosecution against the officers involved.^[54][55]

Public protests took place in Southampton over the following days; far-right activist Tommy Robinson addressed the crowd outside Southampton central police station at the "Justice for Henry Nowak" protest.^[56] Two people were arrested, and Hampshire Police reported that 11 officers and a police dog were injured during the disorder.^[57]

• Sentencing remarks