Southampton man jailed for life for murder of student with ‘religious’ knife

Vickrum Digwa falsely claimed Henry Nowak had racially abused him, causing officers to arrest the student before they saw his injuries. Photograph: Hampshire police/PA Vickrum Digwa falsely claimed Henry Nowak had racially abused him, causing officers to arrest the student before they saw his injuries. Photograph: Hampshire police/PA Southampton man jailed for life for murder of student with ‘religious’ knife Vickrum Digwa, 23, who fatally stabbed Henry Nowak, 18, to serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole CHANGE URL IF NOT LIFE SENTENCE – JUST NEED TO REMOVE ‘LIFE’ THEN GOOD TO GO A man with a “weapon obsession” has been jailed for life for murdering a university student with a 21cm-long knife that he claimed to be carrying for religious reasons. Vickrum Digwa, 23, who stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak five times, will serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole. When police arrived at the murder scene in Southampton , Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked his turban off, causing officers to arrest and handcuff the University of Southampton student before they saw his fatal injuries. View image in fullscreen Henry Nowak was attacked after walking home from a night out with his football team. Photograph: CPS/Solent News and Photo Agency Hampshire police have apologised for their actions, which received global attention after being criticised by the owner of X, Elon Musk. The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, is investigating the incident. Nowak, from Essex , was attacked as he was walking home after a night out with his football team. During the trial, Jeremy Wainwright KC, for Digwa, who is from Southampton, claimed he had carried the knife as part of his religion. At the sentencing hearing on Monday, Wainwright said Digwa had not gone out that night intending to use the knife as a weapon and said he had no criminal record. Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, for the prosecution, had told the jury at Southampton crown court that while Digwa was wearing a small kirpan (a ceremonial sword or dagger worn by initiated Sikhs) under his clothing around his neck, which met his religious obligation, he also chose to carry the much larger knife. At Monday’s hearing, Lobbenberg described the killing as a “sustained attack on an unarmed man”. He said Digwa was “skilled with weapons, trained with weapons, sleeps with weapons, searches for weapons on his phone”. The barrister said: “He is a man with a weapon obsession.” Lobbenberg said aggravating features included Digwa being responsible for Nowak dying alone, humiliated and handcuffed. He said Digwa made videos of Nowak running away and lying injured with close-ups of his face, which was “intrusive and humiliating”. Digwa’s false defence that Nowak was a racist, drunk aggressor added to his family’s grief and loss. In his victim personal statement, Nowak’s father, Mark, described taking his son, the oldest of four children, to university a