A weapons-obsessed man who stabbed an 18-year-old student to death after accusing him of racism has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.
The court heard that 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa was carrying a 21cm ceremonial knife when he approached university fresher Henry Nowak as the teenager walked home from a night out in Southampton on Dec. 3, 2025.
Nowak, who was from Essex and in his first year of studies, was stabbed multiple times in the street and died despite attempts to save him, according to the BBC.
Prosecutors told Southampton Crown Court that Digwa had a long-standing fascination with blades and kept a range of weapons in his bedroom. They said he chose to go out armed and launched an unprovoked attack, with no evidence that Nowak posed any danger before he was knifed.
After the stabbing, Digwa claimed that Nowak had shouted racist abuse, hit him and knocked off his turban, and argued that he used the knife in self-defence. A jury rejected that account, concluding that the allegation of racism was untrue and had been used as a "wicked lie" to excuse the killing.
Body-worn camera footage, released by the Crown Prosecution Service with the agreement of Nowak's family, shows officers arriving at the scene and speaking to Digwa and people nearby. In the footage, Nowak is seen on the ground and can be heard repeatedly saying that he has been stabbed and that he cannot breathe, KMFM reported.
The video records officers rolling Nowak onto his side and fastening handcuffs on his wrists behind his back while he is badly injured. After a short period, he stops responding, and one of the officers tells him he is under arrest on suspicion of assault.
Police later apologised for arresting Nowak as he lay dying, saying their decisions on the night had been influenced by Digwa's false claim that he was the victim of a racist attack.
At sentencing, the judge cited Digwa's obsession with weapons, his decision to carry a large knife in public and the "devastating" effect of the murder on Nowak's family when imposing the life term, as per Mirror.
Originally published on Lawyer Herald
