PIO Sikh man murdered British university student with 21-inch knife, UK court told

TOI correspondent from London: A British Indian Sikh man is facing trial for murdering a British white student at Southampton University with a 21-inch knife.

Henry Nowak (18), who was in his first year studying accountancy and finance, was walking home from a night out with football mates when he was stabbed to death.

A post-mortem examination found he suffered four stab wounds.

Vickrum Digwa (23) from Southampton, a British national, is charged with the murder of Nowak and with possession of a bladed article in a public place.

His mother Kiran Kaur (53), an Indian citizen, is charged with assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the murder scene. They both deny the charges.

Southampton Crown Court heard that Nowak had been sending Snapchat videos to friends as he walked home in Southampton on Dec 3 last year.

Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, said: “His phone captures the moment he met Vickrum Digwa who was carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath,” ITV News reported.

The prosecutor said as well as the knife, Digwa had a kirpan around his neck. Neighbours heard Nowak say he had been stabbed and was dying, before trying to escape by climbing over a fence leaving a blood trail. Digwa chose to aggressively pursue him, the prosecution said. A video of the incident was found on Nowak’s phone, later discovered in Digwa’s pocket.

The mother was captured on video footage taking the knife back to their family home in St Denys Road, Southampton, where it was found by police.

When police arrived, Digwa denied stabbing Nowak, claiming he had been racially abused and attacked by a drunken man.

Police initially handcuffed Nowak and started giving him first aid when he collapsed and died.

In his police interview Digwa said Nowak had knocked his turban off and grabbed his hair and he had “stabbed out twice with his kirpan” in self-defence.

The court heard that footage of Nowak climbing over a fence showed Digwa with hair in a tight bun but when police had arrived, his hair was down.

The trial continues.