Southampton Stabbing: A 23-year-old Sikh martial arts instructor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of an 18-year-old student in Southampton city centre. Vickrum Digwa used an eight-inch kirpan—a traditional Sikh ceremonial dagger—to fatally stab Henry Nowak in December 2025. During sentencing, Judge William Mousley KC soundly rejected Digwa’s claims that the attack was racially provoked, stating he was fully satisfied the young victim “said nothing racist” before the encounter. The judge told Digwa he had “brought shame upon your family and your religion.”
Southampton Stabbing: Flagged Killer Over Stolen Ceremonial Blades
It has emerged that members of Southampton’s Sikh community had previously contacted Hampshire Police regarding Digwa long before the fatal attack. In July 2023, elders at the Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar reported the alleged theft of sacred Shastar blades valued at approximately £1,000. The weapons had been purchased using community funds for the temple.
Expelled from Temple Prior to Fatal Attack
The alleged theft took place at the Gurdwara Khalsa Darbar, where Digwa and his brother had been employed to teach Gatka, a traditional Sikh weapon-based martial art. Following the disappearance of the sacred blades, temple leadership took swift action. A temple source confirmed that Digwa was officially dismissed from his teaching role in August 2023, shortly before the police report was filed. Despite the report, no criminal charges were ever brought against him regarding the missing weapons.
Mother Convicted for Cover-Up After Fatal Stabbing
The violence has devastated the defendant’s own family, with his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, also facing justice. Prosecutors successfully argued that Kaur actively assisted an offender by removing the bloody murder weapon from the crime scene immediately following the stabbing. She was convicted alongside her son for her role in hiding the evidence.
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