Man killed student with 21cm knife after saying ‘I’m a bad man’, court told
Man killed with knife on way home from night out
A first-year university student was stabbed to death by a man using an “extremely large shastar” knife who is shown on phone footage saying “I’m a bad man” before the fatal incident, a court has heard.
Vickrum Digwa is on trial at Southampton Crown Court charged with the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, in Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3 2025.
The 23-year-old is also charged with carrying a knife in public and his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is accused of assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the murder scene.
Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the jury the accountancy and finance student was sending Snapchat videos to friends as he was walking home from a night out with his football team when the fatal incident happened.
He said Mr Nowak had drunk less than the drink-drive limit during the evening.
“His phone captures the moment he met Vickrum Digwa,” Mr Lobbenberg said. “Vickrum Digwa was carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing.
“At half-past midnight that night, Henry was dead, he had been fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa using that knife, the knife that Vickrum Digwa has chosen to carry out on to the street.
“The killing wasn’t seen by anyone other than Henry and Vickrum Digwa, the neighbours heard the aftermath as Henry complained that he had been stabbed and that he was dying, tragically Henry was right on both counts.
“After he had been stabbed, Henry climbed on to a bin and over a fence to try and escape but he had already been fatally wounded and there was a blood trail on the street which demonstrates that he must have been stabbed before he climbed on to the bin and over the fence. Vickrum Digwa chose to aggressively pursue him.”
The prosecutor said a video of the incident was found on Mr Nowak’s phone which was discovered in Digwa’s pocket.
In the video, played to the jury, Mr Nowak can be heard saying “Hello car” and singing to himself before yawning, with the footage then cutting to show Digwa walking away from him.
Mr Nowak is then heard saying: “Innit bad man, what bad man. You’re a bad man, say you’re a bad man, go on.”
Digwa replied: “I am a bad man” with Mr Nowak then saying “Are you a b…”, before the footage cuts off.
Mr Lobbenberg said the defendant’s father and brother were at the scene shortly afterwards along with his mother, who was captured on video footage taking the knife back to their family home in nearby St Denys Road where it was later found by police.
The prosecutor said Digwa denied at the scene stabbing Mr Nowak and added: “Vickrum Digwa said he had been racially abused and attacked by a drunken man. Henry protested he hadn’t attacked Vickrum Digwa and he had been stabbed.”
Mr Lobbenberg said: “He didn’t seek help for the man he had injured with his sizeable knife, instead he accused him of being a racist and being drunk.”
He added that police initially handcuffed Mr Nowak and started giving him first aid when he then collapsed.
He said: “Shortly afterwards Henry became unconscious, then police began to set to work to give him first aid and summon an ambulance, a doctor flew in by helicopter but there was nothing that could be done to save Henry and he was declared dead.”
Mr Lobbenberg said a post-mortem examination found Mr Nowak suffered four stab wounds and a cut to his jaw, with two of the wounds to the back of his legs.
He added that analysis of the knife found blood and fatty tissue matched to Mr Nowak and hairs from Digwa as well as DNA from Kaur on the sheath.
The prosecutor said as well as the shastar – the Punjabi word for weapon or knife – which had a 21cm blade, Digwa had a kirpan knife around his neck and under his clothing.
He said: “Sikhism obliges male followers of the faith to carry and wear certain items, these include a wooden comb, a metal bangle and what is called a kirpan, a ceremonial knife.
“That small kirpan satisfies any religious obligation a Sikh may have to carry a blade and Mr Vickrum Digwa was carrying that under his clothing and around his neck.”
He added: “Mr Digwa was choosing to carry on the streets of Southampton a very large 21cm bladed knife.”
Mr Lobbenberg said that Digwa answered no comment in police interview but gave a prepared statement saying that “Henry Nowak had subjected him to a drunken, racist attack” and accused him of knocking his turban off and grabbing his hair.
He also stated that it was with his hair in front of his eyes that he “stabbed out twice with his kirpan” and acted in self-defence.
The prosecutor said that video footage of Mr Nowak climbing over a fence showed Digwa with hair in a tight bun but then when police had arrived, his hair was down.
Mr Lobbenberg said: “Why has he put his hair down for the arrival of the police, what does that tell you about what he is telling them?”
Jeremy Wainwright KC, representing Digwa, told the jury the larger of the knives carried by the defendant was less than 9in long, which was within the permitted length of kirpan that a Sikh is allowed to carry for religious reasons.
He also asked the jurors to think about who started the incident between the two men, and said they would need to consider whether the prosecution can prove the defendant was not the victim of a racist attack from Mr Nowak.
Mr Wainwright added: “Was there a deliberate intention by Vickrum Digwa to inflict really serious harm or kill Henry Nowak when he used his kirpan, or was he acting in the heat of the moment in self-defence?”
Digwa and Kaur deny the charges and the trial continues.