Man found guilty of stabbing university student Henry Nowak to death with ceremonial knife

A 23-year-old man has been found guilty of stabbing a university student to death with a 21cm Sikh kirpan ceremonial knife.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, told police he was the victim of a racist attack after he stabbed finance student Henry Nowak, 18, five times in Southampton on 3 December 2025.

He was filmed by his victim telling him "I am a bad man" moments before the knife attack, which saw Mr Nowak - from Chafford Hundred, Essex - suffer a fatal stab wound to his heart.

Digwa was also convicted of carrying a bladed weapon in public, and his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, was found guilty of assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene.

The 23-year-old is set to be sentenced on Monday, while Kaur is to be sentenced on 17 July.

Under Sikh practice, a kirpan is carried in a sheath and must be worn in a holster. Unsheathing it for aggressive reasons violates the Sikh code of conduct.

It's legal to possess a kirpan for religious reasons in the UK, but restrictions do apply: However, a blade less than 50cm is not captured under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the court that on the night of the incident, Digwa was wearing "an extremely large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing" - a 21cm shastar, the Punjabi word for weapon or knife - as well as a smaller kirpan around his neck and under clothing.

Digwa told the court that Mr Nowak, whom he described as drunk, had racially abused him before punching him and knocking his turban off.

The court heard a post-mortem examination found that Mr Nowak suffered four stab wounds and a cut to his jaw, with two of the wounds to the back of his legs.

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Police apologise after Digwa 'lied to' officers

Mr Lobbenberg said that Digwa told a "wicked lie" to police about being a victim of a racist attack and that he "lied" by saying he had not stabbed Mr Nowak.

Police initially handcuffed Mr Nowak, he said, and only started giving him first aid when he then collapsed before dying.

After the conviction, temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France, of Hampshire Constabulary, has apologised on behalf of the officers for being unaware of Mr Nowak's injuries.

"I want to say that I am sorry that Henry couldn't be saved that night," he said, adding that Digwa "lied to" the officers. "I'm sorry that he was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness."

Digwa told the court he had stabbed Mr Nowak to the back of his legs in self-defence after Mr Nowak had threatened him and grabbed him by the hair.

He said he had not realised at the time he had caused the fatal stab wound to his chest.

Digwa also said that he had asked his mother, who along with his father arrived at the scene, to hold his kirpan while he picked up his religious items which had fallen to the ground during the incident.

The prosecution said that Kaur took the kirpan back to the nearby family home where it was later found.

'I am a bad man,' defendant said

Jurors were previously shown a video of the incident, which was found on Mr Nowak's phone that was discovered in Digwa's pocket.

In the video, played to jurors, Mr Nowak can be heard saying "Hello car" and singing to himself before yawning, with the footage then cutting to show Digwa walking away from him.

Mr Nowak is then heard saying: "Innit bad man, what bad man. You're a bad man, say you're a bad man, go on."

Digwa replied: "I am a bad man."

The prosecutor also told the court that Digwa is "a man who likes weapons," had described the murder weapon in "loving terms," and that he "sleeps in a bedroom with an arsenal of weapons".

Weapon not a normal kirpan: Sikh Federation

In a statement after the conviction, the Sikh Federation said "Henry's life has tragically been cut short by a moment of madness by an individual for which there can be no excuses".

It added: "If a kirpan or a bladed item is used aggressively in an act of violence, the defence under the law for a kirpan does not apply and it is deemed an offensive weapon.

"We understand in this case the weapon that may have been used was not the normal kirpan worn by fully practising Sikhs.

"This nuance is critically important and may not have been explained or understood by those asked to give evidence in this case."

(c) Sky News 2026: Man found guilty of stabbing university student Henry Nowak to death with ceremonial knife