Sikh man is found guilty of murdering university student using ceremonial dagger: Lying killer told police teenager had been racist – so officers arrested victim as he bled to death

A Sikh man has been found guilty of murdering a university student with a ceremonial knife, then tricking police into arresting the dying man by accusing him of racism.

Finance student Henry Nowak, 18, was returning home after a night out when he was attacked with an eight-inch ‘Shastar’ knife by 23-year-old stranger Vikrum Digwa.

Digwa was caught on camera saying ‘I am a bad man’ before the deadly attack.

He was on trial accused of murder along with his mother Kiran Kaur (53), who was accused of aiding a criminal by hiding the murder weapon.

A jury at Southampton Crown Court today found Digwa guilty of murder and his mother guilty of assisting an offender.

Digwa said he used racism as ‘trump card’ by accusing Mr Nowak of racial abuse when officers arrived to arrest the wrong man.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC said it was a ‘bad lie about a dying man’.

The University of Southampton student collapsed in the street shortly after being handcuffed and died from his injuries, choking on his own blood.

Following the verdict, Hampshire Police apologized for handcuffing the fatally injured teenager.

Deputy chief constable Robert France told the Daily Mail: ‘This case is an absolute tragedy. I’m sorry that Henry’s life couldn’t be saved that night, and I’m sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested.

‘He was the victim.’

Reform MP Robert Jenrick wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood about the incident, asking her to ensure that the officers’ actions at the scene are fully investigated.

“There are many questions that require answers regarding this tragic death,” his letter said.

‘This case has so far been met with harsh silence from the Prime Minister and your other colleagues.

‘This is in marked contrast to their response to other incidents involving police-involved deaths both in the UK and abroad. ‘It’s time to find your own voice and do the right thing.’

Police blunders sparked outrage on social media during the trial; tech billionaire Elon Musk has proposed launching a special investigation against the police.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Mr Nowak’s wrongful detention.

Henry Nowak (18), a finance student described by his family as ‘kind and talented’

Reform MP Robert Jenrick has written to the Home Secretary expressing concern about the arrest of Mr Nowak, who was fatally injured.

The hearing heard Mr Nowak was in his first semester studying accounting and finance at the University of Southampton and had gone with friends from his football team for a night out on the town on December 3, 2023.

The young man went home around 23:00 in the evening, ‘with less than the legal driving limit’.

Jurors were told he was talking to friends on Snapchat when he encountered Digwa, who was ‘carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath clearly displayed on his clothing’.

Prosecutors said Digwa was ‘skilled’ with a knife – he had received weapons training since he was 12 – and allegedly stabbed Mr Nowak three times in the front and three times in the back during a street confrontation.

The prosecutor said a video of the incident was found on Mr. Nowak’s phone, which was in Digwa’s pocket.

In the video shown to the jury, Mr Nowak can be heard singing and saying ‘Hello car’ to himself before yawning; the footage then cuts to show Digwa walking away from him.

Mr Nowak can then be heard saying: ‘He’s actually a bad guy, what a bad guy. You’re a bad man, say you’re a bad man, move on.’

Digwa replied: ‘I’m a bad man’, while Mr Nowak replied: ‘Are you…?’, before the footage cut away.

Mr Lobbenberg said the defendant’s father and brother went to the scene with his mother a short time later, and the woman was captured on video taking the knife to the family home.

Digwa was said to be obsessed with weapons, choosing to ‘sleep with an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom’, and spoke in ‘affectionate terms’ about the Kirpan, a type of ceremonial dagger carried by Sikhs, which allegedly killed Mr Nowak.

In the United Kingdom, Sikhs are legally allowed to carry Kirpan knives in public as they are protected under religious exemption laws.

However, it turned out that Digwa had a small Kirpan around his neck, fulfilling his religious obligations, and the ‘Shastar’ sword he carried on him was much larger, about eight inches.

Mr Lobbenberg said of Digwa in his closing speech: ‘He wasn’t in a temple, he was helping out with his brother’s work for Deliveroo.

‘This is a man who chooses to sleep with an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom.

‘This is a man who loves guns. You know you’re looking for them on your phone.

‘He describes the murder weapon in affectionate terms.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, used racism as ‘trump card’ and accused Mr Nowak (pictured) of using racial abuse when police officers arrived to arrest the wrong man

Digwa’s mother Kiran Kaur, 53, was found guilty of aiding a criminal by hiding the murder weapon

“You might think that’s pretty weird, considering what he did with that knife that night.”

‘Most importantly, he knows how to use a gun. He told you that he had been receiving weapons training since he was 12 years old.’

Mr. Lobbenberg said Digwa lied about Mr. Nowak being drunk that night and that he was actually under the legal alcohol limit for driving.

He said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the biggest lie is why he drew his knife. He told you on the witness stand that Henry Nowak said he was going to kill me. It would destroy me.

‘We think this was never said. You can be sure that this was never said, because if it had been, wouldn’t you have told the 999 operator the most important thing about why you acted the way you did?

He did not tell the police at the scene who asked. While he was explaining what happened, he didn’t tell his brother.

‘If it’s at the forefront of his mind, if it’s engraved in his memory, why don’t you tell someone?

‘Instead he didn’t even mention the threat to kill in his statement of defense.

‘The first time it came from him in the witness box.’

Mr Lobbenberg said a series of lies came from Digwa from minutes after the incident.

He said: ‘We say getting drunk is a lie, ‘it will kill me’ is a lie, ‘P***’ is a lie. The result and purpose of these lies are important.

‘He tells them he was trying to hide why he did it.

‘And racism was the trump card he used to make sure what he was doing was legal.

‘We say it’s a bad lie about a dying man, and now it’s a bad lie about a dead man for you.’

Mr. Lobbenberg said Mr. Nowak was ‘an unarmed young man with a phone.’

The prosecutor said: ‘This is not a case about Sikhism. This is not about racism. ‘This is a case of murder.’