Overview
- Prosecutors at Southampton Crown Court opened the case Thursday by alleging Vikrum Digwa, 23, fatally stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak with a 21 cm shastar on Belmont Road in December 2023.
- Jurors saw video recovered from Nowak’s phone, found in Digwa’s pocket, that captured their encounter and included Digwa saying “I am a bad man” before the clip cut off.
- Forensic testing found blood and fatty tissue on the blade matched to Nowak, with hairs from Digwa and Kiran Kaur’s DNA on the sheath, and prosecutors said a police van recording captured Digwa telling his brother he stabbed Henry three times.
- Officers, acting on Digwa’s claim of racial abuse, first handcuffed the wounded Nowak before he collapsed, and he was declared dead at 12:37 am despite emergency care at the scene.
- Digwa and his mother deny the charges, with the defence saying he acted in self-defence and wore only a small kirpan for faith, while prosecutors argue the much larger shastar falls outside that religious exemption.