Henry Nowak’s killer has had his “unduly lenient” sentence increased by the Court of Appeal after judges ruled that he showed “incomprehensible cruelty” by filming and taunting the student as he lay dying from multiple stab wounds.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, repeatedly used a ceremonial knife with an eight-inch blade against Mr Nowak, 18, who was unarmed and defenceless, in Southampton on December 3.
As Mr Nowak lay dying, Digwa, who did not know him, filmed him and falsely told police that the teenager had racially abused and attacked him. Mr Nowak was arrested before he received medical attention.
The killing later triggered unrest after police body-worn video was released showing officers handcuffing Mr Nowak, who was from Chafford Hundred in Essex.
In the footage, which prompted major protests, Mr Nowak can be heard repeatedly saying, “I’ve been stabbed.” An officer responds: “Don’t think you have, mate.”
Digwa was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years in June. However, judges ruled today that the punishment was unduly lenient and increased the minimum term to 25 years.
Delivering the ruling, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said Digwa’s conduct after the stabbing had further degraded and humiliated Mr Nowak, including by recording him as he bled on the ground.
The footage consisted of two separate videos and included close-up images of Henry’s face as he lay on the floor after being stabbed, the judge said.
Baroness Carr said the filming was “a deliberate act of degradation” and demonstrated “incomprehensible cruelty”.
Digwa’s sentence was reviewed after Attorney General Ellie Reeves referred the case to the Court of Appeal. At the same time, the killer argued that his original sentence was “manifestly excessive”. Judges Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Nicklin and Mr Justice Wall rejected his bid to appeal against the sentence.
Digwa is separately attempting to overturn his conviction, although a decision has not yet been made on whether that appeal can proceed.
In written submissions for the Attorney General, Jonathan Polnay KC said Digwa had “abused the privilege” allowing Sikhs to carry a knife in public for religious reasons.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced to at least 21 years in prison for murdering Henry Nowak
Mr Nowak was stabbed in Southampton last December and then handcuffed as he lay dying
Police bodycam footage showed Digwa lying to police at the scene after stabbing Mr Nowak multiple times, insisting he was the victim
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.”
Mr Polnay added: “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 briefly suspended after about 15 minutes when a fire alarm sounded at the Royal Courts of Justice, leading to the evacuation of the building.
Digwa followed the proceedings from HMP Frankland in County Durham, dressed in a dark suit, shirt and tie.
Members of Mr Nowak’s family attended the hearing. Beforehand, they told ITV that it did not feel right for Digwa to be allowed to challenge his sentence.
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 he had been carrying a small knife concealed from view. Known as a kirpan, it is a strict requirement for Sikhs to carry one at all times.
Digwa also possessed a “large dagger in a sheath” because he belonged to a Sikh order called the Nihang, whose members carry 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.”
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Mr Polnay told the court that the application to increase the sentence “is not about the lawful possession of a kirpan” or the laws permitting Sikhs to carry blades. He said: “It is about what followed.”
He argued that Digwa’s use of the dagger was, “on at least one level, analogous to an abuse of trust”.
Police bodycam footage showed how officers arrested fatally injured Mr Nowak as he gasped ‘I’ve been stabbed’
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 will air tonight
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, representing the defence, accepted that the law allowing Digwa to carry the knife “plainly did not” permit him to use it to murder Mr Nowak.
However, he argued that Judge Mousley had “already expressly aggravated (the sentence) for both the dangerous weapon and the abuse of religious privilege”, along with other factors.
Mr Khan said: “There must be vigilance for using the same underlying facts repeatedly.”
He added: “Simply repeating the points and putting them into sub-headings does not make the argument any better.”
Mr Khan also argued that carrying a knife for religious reasons “should not of itself” result in Sikh offenders receiving longer sentences.
Challenging the length of the sentence, Mr Khan said Digwa’s lies to first responders had “unquestionably affected the dignity with which Mr Nowak was treated”, but that his injuries could not have been survived.
“The false account therefore did not worsen the fatal injury or deprive Mr Nowak of the prospect of survival,” he said.
When Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said the incident “must have been terrifying for Henry”, Mr Khan replied: “I accept that.”
Vickrum Digwa’s mother Kiran Kaur was jailed for three years for assisting an offender, and could be released in a matter of weeks
Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in prison in July for assisting an offender after hiding the blade used to kill Mr Nowak.
Kaur, 53, is expected to be released at some point next month after serving just one year of her sentence under 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 anticipated release felt “particularly cruel” because it falls close to 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, 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 has urged the Government to reconsider Kaur’s early release and review the scheme more broadly.
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 prisoners serving standard fixed-term sentences are now automatically released on licence after serving one-third of their term, rather than 40 per cent or half.
Kaur may serve the remainder of her sentence in the community on licence.
The 221 days she had already spent on remand were taken into account when her sentence was handed down.
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