A court in Southampton today delivered its verdict in the case of the brutal murder of a Polish-born immigrant. The victim, Henry Nowak, was stabbed to death by a Sikh man, Vicrum Digwa, using a traditional Sikh ceremonial knife. Digwa enlisted his entire family in an attempt to cover up the killing. When police arrived at the scene, they handcuffed the dying young man after believing Digwa’s claim that he had been the victim of racist abuse allegedly directed at him by Nowak. The victim died at the scene, effectively drowning in his own blood.
The case sparked widespread interest and outrage in the United Kingdom, primarily because of the police’s controversial conduct. Reform Party politicians and supporters described the police error as “a shocking example of double standards in policing.”
“During the riots in the summer of 2023, the hashtag Two-Tier-Keir became very popular, obviously referring to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It symbolized the perception of double standards. Although crime statistics clearly show that people of immigrant background are overrepresented, the logic of the woke movement presented this as evidence of structural racism,” explained Dr. Przemysław Biskup, commenting on the public outrage.
The case attracted international attention, and technology billionaire Elon Musk offered to finance a private prosecution against the police.
Nowak bled to death while handcuffed
Moments after stabbing Nowak five times with a Sikh ceremonial knife known as a kirpan, Digwa did not call an ambulance. Instead, his brother contacted the police. Among those responding to the scene were three officers from Hampshire Police. The officers immediately handcuffed Nowak, even though he was lying in a pool of blood with stab wounds to his chest and legs.
“I can’t breathe” and “I’ve been stabbed,” Nowak reportedly repeated.
“I don’t think so, mate,” a police officer replied (some sources claim it was a female officer), according to body-camera footage.
Deputy Chief Constable Robert France later stated that he was “deeply sorry that, at the moment he lost consciousness, Henry was handcuffed and arrested.”
“When officers first arrived at the scene, even as Henry’s condition rapidly deteriorated, his killer continued to blame him, obstructed our investigation, and never admitted causing serious harm,” France said in defense of the officers’ actions.
The matter has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for an investigation into the officers’ behavior.
The killer’s entire family involved in the cover-up
Court proceedings in Southampton quickly revealed that Digwa’s entire family had participated in covering up Henry Nowak’s murder.
Nowak, an 18-year-old of Polish-British heritage and a first-year accounting and finance student at the University of Southampton, was returning home from meeting friends on the night of December 3–4, 2025. Unfortunately, his path crossed with Vicrum Digwa.
Little is known about the attacker except that he and his older brother, Gurpreet, had long been obsessed with bladed weapons. For a time, they even worked as instructors in a Sikh martial art involving ceremonial knives, but the school quickly terminated their contracts due to concerns about their behavior and apparent fascination with weapons.
On the night Henry Nowak was killed, Digwa’s entire family arrived at the scene to help conceal the crime. His brother Gurpreet called the police and reported what he described as a racist incident targeting his brother.
“We’ve just been racially attacked by some white man. He physically attacked my brother. We are Sikhs, we wear turbans, and he attacked my brother,” Gurpreet told police.
The attacker’s father insisted to responding officers that Nowak was “pretending” to have been stabbed with his son’s shastar (another term for a Sikh dagger). Meanwhile, Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, removed the knife used in the fatal attack from the scene. At the same time, Digwa filmed his bleeding victim. According to Hampshire Police, he continued to deny using a knife in self-defense throughout the entire police intervention.
In court, Digwa claimed he believed Nowak was intoxicated. It was later established that the teenager’s blood alcohol level at the time of death was low enough that he could legally have driven a car.
“There had been many attacks on Sikhs during those months, and many were filmed by the attackers. I thought I had to do something because I was afraid he would stab me with my own knife,” the killer told the court.
Digwa also took the student’s phone in an attempt to prevent him from recording the incident. Police later found the device in his pocket.
Sikh Federation portrays itself as the victim
Last Thursday, the jury found Digwa guilty of murder. Today, the final sentence was handed down. Judge William Mousley confirmed the conviction and sentenced Digwa to life imprisonment, with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 23 years.
Following the verdict, attended by Henry Nowak’s family and Vicrum Digwa’s friends, an argument broke out in the courtroom between supporters of both sides. Court security intervened.
The Sikh Federation in the United Kingdom claims that prosecutors made “serious mistakes” during the investigation and that, as a result of media coverage of the trial, many Sikhs have been subjected to “significant abuse.”
“The actions of police officers who handcuffed the victim shortly before his death did not help. They gave many people an opportunity to criticize the police, while at the same time unnecessarily fueling hatred in society,” the organization said in a statement.
“Now that the trial has concluded, we want to make it clear that the law only grants practicing Sikhs the right to carry a kirpan for religious reasons,” the Sikh community concluded.