The killer of Henry Nowak should have received a longer sentence after ‘abusing the privilege’ afforded to Sikhs to carry knives in public for religious reasons, the Court of Appeal has heard.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, ‘repeatedly deployed’ the ceremonial knife against Mr Nowak, 18, who was an ‘unarmed and defenceless stranger’, stabbing him multiple times with the eight-inch blade in Southampton on December 3.
As Mr Nowak lay dying, Digwa lied to police that his victim had racially abused him and attacked him. This saw the university student arrested before any medical attention was sought.
The killing later sparked unrest when police body-worn video was released showing officers handcuffing Mr Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex.
In the footage, which prompted huge protests, Mr Nowak could be heard repeatedly saying ‘I’ve been stabbed’ – to which an officer replied: ‘Don’t think you have, mate.’
Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years in June. But today he is appealing against his sentence as ‘manifestly excessive’.
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves, has also referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal as ‘unduly lenient’, with three senior judges hearing both bids to change the minimum term on Thursday.
Digwa is separately seeking to overturn his conviction, but a decision has yet to be made on whether that challenge can go ahead.
In written submissions on behalf of the Attorney General, Jonathan Polnay KC said that Digwa ‘abused the privilege’ afforded to Sikhs to carry a knife in a public place for religious reasons.
He said: ‘The offender was carrying a substantial bladed weapon in public, immediately available for use, which he repeatedly deployed against an unarmed and defenceless stranger.
‘He abused a statutory religious exemption permitting him to carry that weapon.’
Henry Nowak was stabbed in Southampton last December and then handcuffed as he lay dying
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced to at least 21 years in prison for murdering Henry Nowak
Mr Polnay continued: ‘There were significant additional aggravating factors: the offender’s sustained attempts to pervert the course of justice, his false allegation of racism against the deceased, his procurement of his mother’s assistance in concealing evidence, his degradation of the dying victim by filming him, and his conduct in misleading responders.’
‘The minimum term imposed failed adequately to reflect the combined weight of those features.’
The hearing was temporarily paused after about 15 minutes because a fire alarm sounded at the Royal Courts of Justice, prompting the building’s evacuation.
Digwa watched proceedings from HMP Frankland in Co Durham, wearing a dark suit, shirt and tie.
Members of Mr Nowak’s family attended the hearing in person, telling ITV before the hearing that Digwa being allowed to challenge his sentence ‘doesn’t feel fair’.
Mr Nowak’s stepmother Katie Nowak said: ‘It just doesn’t feel fair to us at all.
‘It’s another process that we’ve got to go through. It’s another fight that we have to have. It was a very clear verdict. It’s not right that he’s allowed to do this.’
At Digwa’s sentencing hearing at Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley KC said that on the night of the murder, Digwa had a small knife hidden from view called a kirpan, which is a strict requirement for Sikhs to have at all times.
Digwa also had a ‘large dagger in a sheath’, due to his membership of an order of Sikhs called the Nihang, who have a tradition of having a second knife.
Judge Mousley said: ‘The privilege extended to practising Sikhs of being allowed to be in public with a bladed article and, particularly in respect of the large dagger, a highly dangerous weapon, easily accessible to the wearer, brings with it huge responsibility.’
Mr Polnay told the court that the bid to increase the sentence ‘is not about the lawful possession of a kirpan’ and the laws allowing Sikhs to carry blades, adding: ‘It is about what followed.’
He said that Digwa’s use of the dagger was ‘on at least one level, analogous to an abuse of trust’.
Henry Nowak’s father Mark Nowak and stepmother Katie Nowak speak with ITV News UK editor Paul Brand in the new documentary ‘Dear Henry: Our Fight For Justice’ which aired last night
He continued: ‘When a person who has the benefit of that accommodation uses the article protected by law for repeated lethal violence, that is an aggravating factor of particular weight.’
Imran Khan KC, for Digwa, acknowledged the law allowing Digwa to carry the knife ‘plainly did not’ allow him to use it to murder Mr Nowak, but also said Judge Mousley had ‘already expressly aggravated (the sentence) for both the dangerous weapon and the abuse of religious privilege’, as well as other factors.
He said: ‘There must be vigilance for using the same underlying facts repeatedly.’
He continued: ‘Simply repeating the points and putting them into sub-headings does not make the argument any better.’
Mr Khan also said carrying a knife for religious reasons ‘should not of itself’ cause Sikh offenders to be given longer sentences.
Challenging the length of the sentence, Mr Khan said while Digwa’s lies to first responders ‘unquestionably affected the dignity with which Mr Nowak was treated’, his wounds were unsurvivable.
‘The false account therefore did not worsen the fatal injury or deprive Mr Nowak of the prospect of survival,’ he said.
When the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr responded that it ‘must have been terrifying for Henry’, Mr Khan said: ‘I accept that.’
The hearing before Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Nicklin and Mr Justice Wall is due to conclude on Thursday.
Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in prison in July for assisting an offender, after she hid the blade Digwa used to kill Mr Nowak.
But 53-year-old Kaur is expected to be freed at some point next month after serving just one year of her sentence, as part of the Government’s early release scheme.
Mr Nowak’s mother Lucy Ross told ITV: ‘Mother to mother – she is no mother. We all protect our children, but we also protect our children from right and wrong. But she never did the right thing. She hid the knife, which had Henry’s blood on it.’
The family said the timing of Kaur’s upcoming release feels ‘particularly cruel’ to them, because the date is around the first anniversary of Mr Nowak’s death.
Ms Ross added: ‘As soon as she gets out, she could arrange a visiting order to go see [Digwa]. She’s lucky enough that she could go and see her boy. I have to go to Henry’s grave to see Henry.’
Mr Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, also said: ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. Let’s be honest. She was convicted in May of this year. She’ll be out in December of this year having received a three-year sentence.
‘How on earth can that be right? She’ll be out for Christmas, and I won’t have Christmas with Henry.’
The family have called on the Government to rethink its decision to allow Kaur’s early release – and the scheme as a whole.
Mrs Nowak said: ‘I’d say that victims need to have far more weight and thought given to how they feel. Because throughout this whole process, it doesn’t feel like anyone’s on your side.’
The Sentencing Act 2026 means most inmates serving standard fixed-term sentences are now automatically let out on licence after a third of their term, rather than 40 per cent or half.
Kaur could serve the rest of her sentence in the community on licence.
When her sentence was imposed, the 221 days she had already spent on remand were taken into account.
