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“Please, brother, I can’t breathe.”
Those were the final words of 18-year-old Henry Nowak as he lay bleeding to death on a street in Southampton last December.
As his lungs filled with blood, Mr Nowak was handcuffed by police officers who arrived on the scene of the bloody street attack, even as he begged for help.
Instead, they listened to his killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, who told cops the teen had shouted racist abuse at him before punching him and knocking his turban off.
On Thursday, Digwa was found guilty in Southampton Crown Court of murdering the first-year finance student with an eight-inch ceremonial knife.
The horrific case has sparked widespread outrage in the UK and overseas, and raised serious questions about the effects of anti-racism initiatives on frontline policing.
Police have issued a formal apology, with an independent review now underway.
It has also once again highlighted concerns about religious exemption laws which allow practising Sikhs to carry ceremonial knives in public.
After the verdict, the UK’s Sikh Federation said Mr Nowak’s death was a “tragedy” for which there were “no excuses”.
“Nonetheless, the wider Sikh community has unacceptably faced considerable abuse and hate during the trial as many do not understand the law, the significance of the kirpan or the responsibility associated with wearing a kirpan,” a spokesman told The Telegraph.
“The actions of police officers who handcuffed the victim just before he died has not helped and given an opportunity for many to criticise the police, but it has also unnecessarily stirred up community hatred.
“Now the trial is over, we want to make absolutely clear the law only provides fully practising Sikhs with a defence under the law to wear a kirpan for religious reasons. 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.”
Mr Nowak, who studied at the University of Southampton, was on his way home from a night out with friends on December 3, 2025, when Digwa stabbed him five times with the kirpan-style blade.
A kirpan is a curved, single-edged ceremonial sword or dagger, typically around six inches long, that initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs are required to wear at all times, usually on a shoulder belt under their clothes.
Mr Nowak was killed with a longer blade, about eight inches long, known as a shastar.
Snapchat video from the teen’s phone, which emerged during the two-week trial, showed Mr Nowak encountering Digwa and asking if he was a “bad man”.
Digwa was heard responding “I’m a bad man” before the clip cut out.
Digwa claimed in his evidence that he was near his home when he saw Mr Nowak walking towards him looking “drunk”.
He claimed the student began racially abusing him and that he feared for his safety as “there had been a lot of attacks on Sikhs in recent months”.
No one witnessed the attack, but neighbours called police after hearing Mr Nowak’s cries for help.
Mum hides murder weapon
Digwa filmed the dying teen as he tried to flee over a fence while leaving a trail of blood and shouting “I’m going to die”.
Before police arrived, Digwa’s brother turned up and also called police.
The killer’s mother, Kiran Kaur, and father, Moga Singh Digwa, also arrived at the scene. Kaur picked up the knife used in the killing and ran back to stash it in the family home.
Digwa denied murder and possession of a bladed article, and his mother also denied assisting an offender.
Both were found guilty on Thursday.
Prosecutors described Digwa’s accusation of racism as a “wicked lie” and his “trump card”.
“We say that was a wicked lie about a dying man and it is a wicked lie about a dead man to you now,” Nicholas Lobbenberg KC told jurors in his closing speech.
Mr Nowak collapsed and died despite officers’ efforts to give him first aid, after they belatedly realised the severity of his injuries and removed the handcuffs.
The first-year finance student, a keen footballer described by family as a “soft, gentle soul” who “lit up a room”, was pronounced dead at 12.37am in the middle of the street.
Mr Lobbenberg told jurors Digwa was highly familiar with weapons and “liked” blades.
He claimed Digwa lied about the circumstances leading up to the attack and falsely painted Mr Nowak as drunk and aggressive.
Mr Nowak had drunk less than the legal drink-driving limit, the court heard.
“He didn’t seek help for the man he’d injured with his sizeable knife,” Mr Lobbenberg said. “Instead, he accused him of being racist and being drunk.”
Mr Lobbenberg said that at around 11pm on the night of the killing Digwa “chose to be on the streets of Southampton with a 21-centimetre knife”.
“He wasn’t at a temple, he had been helping with his brother’s work for Deliveroo,” he said.
“This is a man who chooses to sleep in his bedroom with an arsenal of weapons. This is a man who likes weapons. You know he searches for them on his phone. He describes the murder weapon in loving terms. You might think that rather odd, given what he did with that knife on that night. Most importantly, he knows how to use weapons. He told you he has been training with weapons since he was 12.”
Digwa was found to have a small kirpan around his neck that fulfilled his religious obligation.
Judge William Mousley KC, summing up Digwa’s evidence, told how Digwa said, “‘I do have an interest in antique Sikh weapons. We give demonstrations and I do know how to use them. I am proud of that, and we have been doing that since we were 10.’”
Digwa is due to be sentenced on June 1 and Kaur on July 17.
The police watchdog is now investigating Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary over Mr Nowak’s arrest, The Telegraph reports.
‘Deeply sorry’
Following Digwa’s conviction, deputy chief constable Robert France publicly apologised for his officers’ actions.
“I am deeply sorry that Henry could not be saved,” Mr France said in a video statement on Thursday.
“I am sorry that in the moments before 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.
“During the 999 call, when officers first arrived at the scene, and even when Henry’s condition was deteriorating quickly, his killer continued to divert the blame, obstruct our inquiries, and never admit the serious harm which had been done.
“I understand that there were many questions about what happened on the night of Wednesday the 3rd of December 2025.
“In those moments, the officers who attended didn’t have all of the information we have today. They were called to a report of an assault and told a man was being detained at the scene.
“These details were immediately repeated to officers as they arrived. The attending officers sought to take control of a complex situation. And based on what they had been told, they placed Henry in handcuffs and told him he was under arrest.
“But within three minutes of arriving, they realised the severity of his condition. The handcuffs were removed, an ambulance was called, and they started CPR.
“The horrendous injuries Henry suffered were internal. The pathologist evidence at court was clear. Sadly, nothing we could have done that night would have saved him. His wound was difficult to find and had caused a significant amount of internal bleeding.
“As people worked to try and save him, three people were arrested at the scene, including the man now convicted of his murder. A fourth person was arrested at a nearby address.
“My officers responded swiftly to a situation which was confusing and unclear, and within minutes were giving Henry first aid and trying to save his life.
“The following day, we referred the incident to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, who’ve been conducting an independent investigation into our response. We are committed to acting on their findings.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp blasted the behaviour of police as “shameful”.
“The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation that has now been confirmed must get to the bottom of this,” he told The Telegraph. “The force must apologise to Henry’s family and policing more widely should end on its fixation on race and alleged racism in the way it approaches policing.”
The IOPC said, “We are independently investigating the contact Hampshire and Isle of Wight officers had with Nowak prior to his death on December 4, including the use of handcuffs by officers and the first aid provided.
“Our investigation, which began following a mandatory referral from the force, remains ongoing and the officers involved are currently being treated as witnesses.”
Kirpan laws in Australia
All states and territories in Australia allow the carrying and wearing of the kirpan for religious purposes under their respective laws.
“Some state laws expressly refer to ‘Sikhs’ and the ‘Kirpan’ in the legislation (e.g. in VIC),” Australian Sikh Civil Rights (ASCR) says.
“Other states and territories have a specific ‘religious exemption’ applicable to Sikhs (e.g. ACT, SA and QLD). Other states and territories have a more general ‘lawful excuse’ or ‘reasonable excuse’ provision which includes religious observance either expressly or through relevant authority policy (e.g. NSW, NT, TAS, WA).”
Carrying of the kirpan in schools is expressly allowed in NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
NSW temporarily banned students from wearing the kirpan in 2021 after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the back and stomach by a 14-year-old during a fight at a northwest Sydney school.
The ban was reversed by the NSW Education Department three months later following consultation with the Sikh community.
In 2023, Queensland’s Court of Appeal ruled that the state’s blanket ban on wearing ceremonial knives in public places and schools breached the federal Racial Discrimination Act and was therefore unconstitutional.
Australian Sikh woman Kamaljit Kaur Athwal had sued the state government in 2022 alleging the Weapons Act, which criminalised possessing a knife in a school even for “genuine religious purposes”, was discriminatory.
The Court of Appeal agreed, finding that as there was no evidence of other religions which required the carrying of a knife, the law effectively singled out Sikhs.
Amarinder Bajwa, board member, National Sikh Council of Australia, said of the 200,000-plus Sikhs in Australia, only around 10-15,000 carried the kirpan.
“Obviously such isolated incidents have come to light at various stages … but [those people] are doing the wrong thing, not only for themselves but for the community,” he told news.com.au.
“It’s part of our faith and there are restrictions on the size and the type of kirpan. It is only a ceremonial thing, it’s religious, it’s ceremonial article of faith that should not be used in any other things or [by] people when fighting. They should be more respectful to it.”
Mr Bajwa stressed of the minority of Sikhs who wore the kirpan “I’m sure 99.999 per cent are very respectful and they know the responsibility they carry”.
“It’s ingrained in our doctrine of faith, we can’t just take it out,” he said.
— with The Sun
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