The killer of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak will have to serve at least 25 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole after the Court of Appeal increased his minimum sentence and rejected his appeal.
Vickrum Digwa, who was originally sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years, had challenged the sentence as “manifestly excessive”. However, Attorney General Ellie Reeves referred the case to the Court of Appeal, arguing it was “unduly lenient”.
As per local media reports, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting with Mr Justice Nicklin and Mr Justice Wall, quashed the original minimum term and replaced it with 25 years.
After deducting 175 days spent in custody on remand, Digwa must serve a minimum of 24 years and 190 days before he can be considered for parole.
Digwa was convicted of stabbing Nowak several times with a large dagger during an attack in Belmont Road, Southampton, on 3 December 2025. Nowak, who was 18, was from Chafford Hundred in Essex.
In its ruling, the court said the original sentence did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the murder, particularly the repeated use of a large dagger with intent to kill and the conduct that followed the stabbing.
Lady Chief Justice Carr said the original sentence had understated the “deliberate cruelty, additional suffering and obstruction” that followed the attack.
She said that although the sentencing judge had been entitled to start from a minimum term of 15 years, a significant increase was required because of the use of the large weapon.
The court also considered Digwa’s conduct after the stabbing, including filming Nowak as he lay dying and misleading emergency responders.
Digwa had told police that Nowak attacked and racially abused him. The trial judge found his allegations of racism to be a lie. However, the Court of Appeal said it was unnecessary to determine whether the allegation was false because its assessment of the appropriate sentence remained unchanged even if that finding was left out of account.
The court also stressed that the fact that carrying a religious blade may have been lawful did not lessen the seriousness of its subsequent use to kill.
Digwa, who was 22 at the time of the murder, had been carrying a small kirpan around his neck and a larger dagger in a sheath, associated with the Nihang Sikh tradition.
The Attorney General’s representative argued that the original sentence failed to account adequately for the aggravating circumstances, including the use of the dagger, attempts to obstruct justice and the involvement of Digwa’s mother in concealing evidence.
Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, was jailed for three years in July after being convicted of assisting an offender by removing the knife from the murder scene. She abandoned her appeal against her sentence shortly before Thursday’s hearing.
The Court of Appeal also refused Digwa permission to appeal against his sentence, ruling that it was not arguable that the increased minimum term was manifestly excessive.
Nowak’s family described the decision as an important step towards justice but said no sentence could bring their son back.
They added that their fight for justice was far from over and said they would support an independent rapid review being carried out by Alex Chalk.
Attorney General Ellie Reeves welcomed the ruling, saying the brutality and cruelty of the case had horrified her and that her thoughts remained with Nowak’s family.
Digwa has separately applied for permission to appeal against his murder conviction. That application will be considered independently.
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