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British Sikh Man Appeals Life Sentence for Fatal Stabbing, Citing Religious Defense
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News18•29-09-2026, 22:00
British Sikh Man Appeals Life Sentence for Fatal Stabbing, Citing Religious Defense
- •Vickrum Digwa, 23, was granted permission to appeal his life sentence for fatally stabbing 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
- •Digwa was found guilty of killing Nowak with a 21-cm blade and sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison.
- •He attempted a religious defense, claiming the weapon was a kirpan, a ceremonial Sikh knife, sparking community uproar.
- •Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years for assisting an offender by removing the weapon from the scene.
- •Sikh leaders condemned the misrepresentation of the kirpan, emphasizing it is never for offensive purposes, while police faced investigation over alleged "two-tier" policing.
Key Questions Answered
Vickrum Digwa has been permitted to challenge the length of his life sentence at the Court of Appeal on November 5, with a separate application pending against his murder conviction.
Kiran Kaur was convicted of assisting an offender after taking possession of the murder weapon and helping remove it from the scene in Southampton to hinder the investigation.
The police force faced an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation over allegations of two-tier policing after body-worn camera footage showed the dying victim being handcuffed based on the killer's debunked racism allegations.
