A Sikh man who claimed to have been the victim of a racist attack has been found guilty of murder for the slaying of student Henry Nowak, the death of whom became notorious after it was revealed he was handcuffed by police and ignored while he bled to death.
A murderer who lied to police about having repeatedly stabbed a teenager, and covered for himself by telling a “wicked lie” about his victim having committed racist abuse against him, has been found guilty by a jury at Southampton Crown Court in Hampshire, England this afternoon. Police welcomed the conviction, but also apologised for having believed the knifeman’s lies, meaning Anglo-Polish victim Henry Nowak’s last conscious moments were spent handcuffed explaining that he’d been stabbed, while being told he was making it up.
After the guilty verdict was read out, it was revealed an anti-“two tier policing” protest had been called for Thursday night outside Southampton Central Police Station over the force’s reflexive instinct to believe the racism accusation while ignoring the factual stabbing report.
The jury of eight women and four men started their deliberations at lunchtime on Wednesday and found 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa guilty of murder on Thursday afternoon. Digwa was also found guilty of carrying a knife in a public place. Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur was also found guilty on her charge of assisting an offender by removing the murder weapon from the scene and stashing it at their family home.
The BBC reports Digwa showed no emotion as the jury reported, that Kaur was “visibly upset”, and that “sobs” could be heard from the public gallery.
Killer Digwa will be sentenced on Monday, the judge said. Mother Kaur’s sentencing is to be delayed until July 17th to allow the preparation of a pre-sentencing report, reports Sky News.
As previously reported, Nowak and Digwa met by chance in the city of Southampton on December 3rd 2025. The court heard that accountancy and finance student Nowak had been out socialising with friends from his student football team and had consumed alcohol that evening but at his time of death was not intoxicated and could have legally driven a car.
Words were exchanged between the men and Digwa chased and stabbed Nowak five times, including twice in the back of the legs and once in the chest. After some time, a delay which apparently gave an opportunity for several members of Digwa’s family to arrive at the scene, police were eventually called and told there had been a racist attack, with no mention of a stabbing.
When officers arrived at the scene they arrested the now-dying Henry Nowak and ignored his protests at having been stabbed until it became impossible to ignore that he was drowning in his own blood. Officers then attempted to resuscitate Nowak and summoned an air ambulance, but he was later declared dead at the scene.
Earlier in the hearings, the court was shown police bodycam footage. As officers arrive at the scene Nowak is seen being held up against a wall by murderer Digwa’s father, who accused the victim of “pretending” to have been injured, while the teen complained of being unable to breathe. Nowak’s chest cavity was at this time filling with blood because one of his knife wounds had cut an artery.
Police were then seen arresting Nowak in the video, who is lying on his side on the ground, and again trying to tell the officers that he had been stabbed, to which an unseen male replies, “I don’t think you have, mate”.
A police spokesman apologised for his officers having arrested slain teen Nowak at the scene of the crime, insisting they were doing their best based on the lies they’d been told, and citing the pathologist who said officers wouldn’t have been capable of saving Nowak from the deep wound even if they’d believed him.
Vickrum Digwa [L], Kiran Kaur [R], Hampshire Police Handout
Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France said the Hampshire police had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over the death and that an independent investigation was underway, reports local newspaper the Daily Echo. He said:
… this is an unspeakable tragedy and I cannot being to imagine what Henry’s family have suffered. I am deeply sorry that Henry could not be saved. I am deeply sorry that in the moments he lost consciousness, he had been handcuffed and arrested.
The facts heard in court should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind who was lying to officers that night, and why we didn’t immediately understand what had happened.
He continued:
His injury was deep and internal, the bleeding described in court that sadly led to the loss of his life was internal. The pathologist was very clear about that and very clear that there was sadly nothing officers could have done that would have saved Henry’s life that day.
None of that changes the fact that it’s important to me you know I am sorry that Henry was handcuffed and arrested in the moments before he lost consciousness, he was the victim.
Reform UK’s justice spokesman Robert Jenrick demanded the public know the full truth in the case and called on police to release the footage the jury were shown. He said of the Police’s apology: “Sorry isn’t good enough.
“We need to see the body-worn footage and these officers need to face consequences. The treatment of this murdered student, in his dying moments, is a national scandal.”
In a letter to the government written before the verdict but made public shortly afterwards, Jenrick demanded to know why “do racial sensitivities consistently appear to shape how the police enforce law these days?”. He further noted how top government lawmakers had remained silent on the case, while they had rushed to get comment on “other incidents involving deaths involving the police, both in the UK and abroad”.
The matter raised by Jenrick of consequences for the police officers who handcuffed the dying teen had been earlier raised by figures including Elon Musk, who vowed to “fund a wrongful death lawsuit against these disgusting excuses for law enforcement”.