A Sikh man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years after murdering a university student by stabbing him with a religious ceremonial knife.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court this afternoon for the murder of Henry Nowak.
Mr Nowak was killed on December 3 last year, as he was walking home from a night out in Southampton.
He was stabbed five times, including a fatal wound to the chest, by a 21cm Sikh ceremonial blade known as a "Kirpan".
At Southampton Crown Court last week, Digwa was found guilty of two charges, murder and carrying a knife in public.
Digwa’s mother, Kirun Kaur, also received a guilty verdict for assisting a defendant by removing the weapon from the scene.
Police previously apologised for the treatment of Mr Nowak, who was handcuffed just moments before he died.
Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the court: “This was a sustained attack on an unarmed man. The defendant is skilled with weapons, he trained with weapons, he sleeps in a room with weapons, he searches for weapons on his phone.
“The Crown says he is a man with a weapons obsession. He chose to use a weapon on the streets of Southampton, this demonstrates in his mind what he had was a weapon ready and available for his use."
Vickrum Digwa stabbed Henry Nowak five times with a 21-centimetre blade
|PA
The judge also addressed claims Nowak had used a racist word against Digwa, which the killer's defence had used to aid Digwa in his case.
"I am sure that Henry said nothing racist," he said when addressing Digwa. "You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character."
The judge noted "Henry Nowak dying alone, humiliated and handcuffed was a direct consequence of Vickrum Digwa’s dishonesty" and Digwa's defence "describing Henry as a violent, drunk, racist aggressor, compounds the grief of the family".
Mark Nowak, the father of Henry Nowak, broke down in tears as he read his victim impact statement to the court, in which he described the family’s devastation at the loss of his “beautiful son”.
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He said: “As a father, it is my job to protect my child and I failed to keep him safe, I was not there when he needed me most, the thought of him lying in the road, scared, bleeding to death will haunt me forever.
“I have been traumatised by not knowing exactly what happened that night. A parent losing a child is the worst thing in the world but not knowing how it happened is like a fate worse than hell.”
Mr Nowak, who has three other children, added: “There is a Henry-shaped hole in our family forever and nothing will heal that. If I could swap places so the four of them could be together again, I would do so in a heartbeat.”
Describing the impact of Henry’s absence at key family moments, he said: “Completely and utterly devastating doesn’t begin to describe how we are feeling as a family on these significant days and every day in between.
Henry Nowak was stabbed to death on the walk home from a night out with friends | HANDOUT“I am haunted by all things he will never do. As a family, we have all been given a life sentence, this pain will be with me until my dying day.”
Olivia, the sister of Henry Nowak, spoke directly to the defendant as she told him: “If you had known him, you would never have hurt him.”
She told the court: “My brother was my first best friend, an unbreakable bond, we lived our life to the fullest together. He lit up every room that he walked into and the world became less valuable the day he left.”
She described him as “funny, handsome, precious and kind”, and added: “My brother should not be forever 18, he deserved to grow old and start a family of his own, to be an uncle to my children.”
A key piece of evidence shown in court was a snapchat video taken by Nowak moments before the incident, in which he filmed Digwa and said “go on, say you are a badman".
In the video, Digwa responds, "I am a bad man" and approaches Nowak and grabs his phone and holds it throughout the incident.
Another video, taken by Digwa, was shown in court, where Nowak climbs over a fence in an attempt to get away from his killer.
Mr Nowak called out several times, saying, "I have been stabbed" and "I can’t breathe".
"You have brought shame upon your family and your religion," the judge added when addressing Digwa.
"Your actions have stirred up racial tension in Southampton and across the country which have made many Sikhs worried about their safety.
"You, Vickrum Digwa, murdered him; by doing so, you robbed him of all the things he loved. You have brought misery and a lifetime of loss to his family and anyone that knew him.”
If released, Digwa will remain on licence and be subject to recall.
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