Overview
- An 18-year-old student, Henry Nowak, was fatally stabbed on December 3, 2025, and 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a 21-year minimum term.
- The Crown Prosecution Service released a translated transcript on July 16 that records Digwa telling his brother in a police van that he stabbed Nowak multiple times, statements the jury did not accept as self-defence during trial.
- Digwa has applied to the Court of Appeal to try to reduce his sentence while the Solicitor General has referred the term as potentially unduly lenient, so a judge will decide whether an appeal proceeds.
- The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating two Hampshire officers over their handling of the scene after body-worn camera footage showed Nowak saying he had been stabbed and later being handcuffed as he lay injured; a coroner's inquest and further inspections have been scheduled.
- Digwa's mother was convicted of assisting an offender for removing a larger blade from the scene and community leaders and legal commentators have disputed the use of the word 'kirpan', noting UK law allows limited religious carriage of a ceremonial knife but does not excuse using a blade as a weapon.