Vickrum Digwa, the man jailed for life for stabbing 18-year-old student Henry Nowak to death in Southampton, has applied to the Court of Appeal in a bid to quash his murder conviction and reduce his sentence — a move that comes as newly released footage shows him lying to police as his victim lay dying metres away.
Digwa, 23, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years after stabbing Henry five times with a 21cm ceremonial blade in December 2025. The sentence had already been referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient scheme by Solicitor General Ellie Reeves, who said it “horrified” her. Reeves said: “No sentence can ever undo the devastation that Henry’s family have suffered, or fill the void left by his loss. But I hope this referral goes some way towards bringing them the justice they deserve.” Now, according to the Daily Mirror, Digwa himself has lodged a separate application seeking to appeal both his conviction and the length of his sentence. A judge will determine whether the case should proceed.
The appeal bid has emerged in the same week that shocking body-worn camera footage released by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police showed Digwa calmly lying to officers as Henry was bleeding to death nearby. In the footage, Digwa told police that Henry had “pushed my turban off my head, started grabbing my hair” and used a racial slur against him. When asked about a wound on Henry’s face, Digwa feigned ignorance, replying: “What wound, sorry?” The timecode on the footage indicates Henry had already stopped breathing 13 minutes before this exchange. At no point during the video is Digwa handcuffed.
At 11.55pm, an officer wearing the camera arrested Digwa on suspicion of attempted murder, telling him: “You’ve got your side of the story mate. We don’t know what’s gone on here, ok? I’m not saying you’ve done anything mate, but we need to find out what’s happened.” Digwa responded by repeating his false claim: “Mate, I’ve been racially attacked.”
Meanwhile, Henry lay dying. Police did not act on his repeated pleas that he had been stabbed and could not breathe until it was too late. He died that night, in the words of those close to the case, “alone, humiliated and handcuffed.” Previously released footage had shown an officer responding to Henry’s desperate words — “I’ve been stabbed,” “I can’t breathe” — with the words: “You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts? Don’t think you have, mate.” A transcript released by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police subsequently revealed it took officers eight minutes to discover his fatal stab wound.
The case has triggered a national reckoning. Sir Keir Starmer said he “felt sick” watching the bodycam footage and said there were “serious questions” for police to answer, including how “accusations of racism” had influenced the officers’ decision making. Two of the officers involved are now under investigation by the IOPC for potential gross misconduct, including alleged failures to provide first aid, failure to recognise that Henry required urgent medical attention, and — in one case — dismissing his claim that he had been stabbed. The watchdog has confirmed it will also examine whether race or religion played a part in the officers’ decisions. Twenty-three people have been charged following violent clashes with riot police at a protest in Southampton held in Henry’s memory.
Digwa, meanwhile, is understood to have been placed in segregation in prison, reportedly because he fears being attacked by other inmates following the public furore surrounding his case, according to the Sun.
