UK Horror: Teen Stabbing Victim Dies After Police Arrest Him Rather Than Sikh Attacker
15th May 2026
A teenage stabbing victim bled to death on the street in Southampton after British police arrested and cuffed him rather than his alleged Sikh attacker, after the suspect claimed he’d been racially abused, according to court testimony.
Henry Nowak, 18, a finance student at the University of Southampton, was walking home from a night out in December 2025, chatting with some friends on Snapchat, when he was encountered by Vickrum Digwa, 23. After a brief exchange, Digwa stabbed Nowak with an eight-inch Sikh ceremonial shastar blade, according to court testimony reported by BBC. A post-mortem examination showed Nowak had four stab wounds, BBC reported.
Nowak tried to escape over a fence, but was “aggressively pursued” by Digwa, jurors were told.
However, when Hampshire Constabulary police officers arrived at the scene, they arrested the dying Nowak rather than Digwa after the suspect claimed he’d been “racially abused and attacked by a drunken man,” prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC said, ITV News reported.
Nowak was handcuffed and police administered first aid before he fell unconscious, according to Lobbenberg. He died a short time later at the scene. “Put simply,” the prosecutor told jurors, “Henry drowned in his own blood, with his lung having been cut by the knife going eight centimeters into him.”
Lobbenberg acknowledged that Sikh males are allowed to carry a knife as part of their religious obligation. Digwa did have a small ceremonial knife called a kirpan in his possession. However, the knife used to stab Nowak was an “extremely large knife” openly displayed over Digwa’s clothing, ITV News reported.