Dying student handcuffed by police after attacker who stabbed him told racism lie

A Sikh man was convicted of murdering an 18-year-old university student by stabbing him five times with a Sikh ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade. He told police he was the victim of a racist attack, despite being filmed by the victim moments before the stabbing. The victim suffered two stab wounds to the back of his legs and a fatal wound to his heart. The defendant was also convicted of carrying a bladed weapon in public. His mother was convicted of assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene. Police arrested the victim after the defendant denied stabbing him, and the victim died despite first aid efforts.

"He was filmed by his victim as he told him I am a bad man moments before the knife attack, which included two stab wounds to the back of Nowak's legs and a fatal wound to his heart. The 23-year-old 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."

"Vickrum Digwa told police a wicked lie that he was the victim of a racist attack after he stabbed finance student Henry Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, five times in the incident in Belmont Road, Southampton, on 3 December 2025. The prosecution said Digwa had told a wicked lie to police who attended the scene, by telling them he had been the victim of a racist attack."

"He said he had stabbed Nowak in the back of his legs in self-defence after Nowak had threatened him and grabbed him by the hair, but that he had not realised at the time that he had caused the fatal stab wound to Nowak's chest. He also lied by telling officers that he had not stabbed Nowak, despite the student's pleas for help as he told the police he was injured."

"This led the officers to arrest Nowak and put him in handcuffs moments before he collapsed and became unconscious. He then died despite their efforts to give him first aid. Tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on X an offer to fund a private prosecution against the police, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the circumstances of the incident."

Read at www.independent.co.uk