Vickrum Singh Digwa
Introduction
Vickrum Singh Digwa is a 23-year-old man from St Denys, Southampton, who was convicted of murder for fatally stabbing 18-year-old Henry Nowak, a first-year student at the University of Southampton, during a chance encounter on the evening of December 3, 2025. Sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on June 1, 2026 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years for murder and possessing a bladed article, Digwa saw that minimum term increased to 25 years on November 5, 2026, when the Court of Appeal allowed a reference brought by Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme . Digwa’s own attempt to have the sentence reduced as manifestly excessive was refused, with the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, sitting with Mr Justice Nicklin and Mr Justice Wall, ruling it “unarguable” that the increased term was too long .
Background Information
Digwa was 22 years old at the time of the killing and entirely unknown to his victim. Henry Nowak, 18, was walking home in Southampton when the two had a brief interaction: Nowak asked Digwa whether he was a “bad man”, and the trial judge found his tone was neither aggressive nor threatening. Digwa instead approached Nowak, took his mobile telephone, and drew the large Kirpan — a religious knife of the Sikh faith — which he had been carrying in a sheath on a belt over the outside of his clothing . The Attorney General’s Office noted in its own account that Digwa had been carrying the large dagger in a sheath over his clothing when he encountered Nowak . Digwa and Nowak were, in the words of the government announcement, entirely unknown to each other, and the fatal stabbing followed only a brief interaction between the two .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted of murder; minimum term increased on referral. Digwa’s murder conviction was determined by a jury at Southampton Crown Court, and his original 21-year minimum term was quashed and replaced with 25 years by the Court of Appeal after the Attorney General argued it was unduly lenient.
Digwa stabbed Nowak in the chest with the Kirpan, inflicting a wound the Court of Appeal described as unsurvivable, and inflicted two substantial wounds to his upper leg together with further injuries . After the stabbing, Digwa falsely claimed that Nowak was the aggressor and falsely denied having stabbed him; police initially acted on that false account, and Nowak was arrested and handcuffed before officers understood the seriousness of his condition and began emergency treatment. He could not be saved . Digwa then filmed Nowak as he tried to get away and continued filming as he lay dying, with Digwa and his brother taunting him; the Attorney General’s Office said Digwa also instructed his mother to remove the murder weapon before police arrived and repeatedly lied to attending officers .
At the Court of Appeal, counsel for the Attorney General argued Digwa had “repeatedly deployed” the knife against an unarmed and defenceless stranger, and the court concluded that the proper minimum term before mitigation would have been at least 27 years, reduced to no less than 25 years to reflect Digwa’s relative youth, previous good character and the absence of premeditation . Lady Chief Justice Carr held that the original 21-year minimum “materially understated” the circumstances in which the large and immediately available dagger was repeatedly used with intent to kill, along with the deliberate cruelty, additional suffering and obstruction that followed the stabbing: the sentence “was not only lenient, but unduly so” .
Public Reaction and Consequences
Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC said “the brutality and cruelty of this case horrified me, and I know that feeling is shared by the British public”, adding that no sentence could fill the void left by Nowak’s loss . In a victim impact statement described in the government announcement, Henry’s father spoke of the devastating impact of his son’s death and the family’s deep grief at losing him at such a young age .
Current Status
Digwa is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years, quashed and increased by the Court of Appeal on November 5, 2026; after deducting the 175 days he spent on remand, the operative minimum term is 24 years and 190 days, and the minimum term is the period he must serve before the Parole Board may consider whether release is safe . His application for leave to appeal against his own sentence as manifestly excessive was refused, and the court called that argument unarguable . The sentencing judge’s finding that Digwa did not carry the Kirpan intending to use it was left undisturbed, but the Court of Appeal held the judge’s overall assessment materially understated the murder’s seriousness .
Impact on Their Career/Life
At 23, Digwa will spend at least a quarter of a century in custody before any parole consideration, four years longer than the minimum originally imposed, and his life sentence means release remains subject to the Parole Board indefinitely. The Court of Appeal’s judgment permanently fixes the case as a documented example of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme functioning as designed — the government announcement publicized the increase, attaching the Attorney General’s condemnation of the murder’s “brutality and cruelty” to Digwa’s name in the public record . The judgment also records the aggravating conduct — the filming of a dying stranger, the taunting, the false account that led to the victim being handcuffed, and the arrangement for his mother to remove the weapon — as settled findings Digwa will carry through any future parole review .