Britain07 June, 20262 min read
Sikh Federation Demands Public Inquiry Into Henry Nowak Murder By Vickrum Digwa
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Henry Nowak, 18, killed by Vickrum Digwa with a knife in December 2025. Sikh Federation UK calls for statutory public inquiry into death, citing catastrophic multi-agency failures.
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Calls for public inquiry
A Sikh lobby group has demanded a statutory public inquiry into the “catastrophic multi-agency failures” surrounding the murder of student Henry Nowak, who was killed in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa in December 2025. Dabinderjit Singh, the Sikh Federation’s chief executive of political engagement, wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary David Lammy and Attorney General Richard Hermer, saying the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation into Hampshire Police was “entirely insufficient”.
Singh argued that “serious questions” remain about whether Nowak’s death was preventable, and he said the conduct of police officers and cultural issues during the trial were among “catastrophic multi-agency failures”. He also said local intelligence indicates Digwa was “well known to law enforcement and ‘on the police radar,” and he called for a wider inquiry to establish why that intelligence failed to inform responding officers’ risk assessments.
Knife details and misinformation
The dispute centers on the knife Digwa carried and the weapon prosecutors said was used to kill Nowak, with Singh saying misinformation about the murder weapon had been “highly damaging” to Sikhs. The Independent reported that Digwa used a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, which prosecutors said during the trial was a kirpan he carried as part of his Sikh religion, while his second blade was described by the trial judge as “a large Sikh dagger” and used as the murder weapon.
Singh said the prosecution and police possessed the weapon for over six months and that they knew, or ought to have known, that the blade was straight and “could not be a kirpan,” adding that allowing a false characterisation to stand unchallenged facilitated a “highly damaging wave of misinformation”. In parallel, the BBC said bodycam footage released by Hampshire police with permission from Henry Nowak’s family showed him repeatedly telling police officers “I can't breathe” as he lay dying in handcuffs after being stabbed by Digwa.
Protests, charges, and investigations
The fallout has included violent protests in Southampton, with the Daily Echo reporting that Digwa was jailed for a minimum of 21 years after being convicted of murder and that violent protests took place in Southampton last Tuesday after police body-worn footage was released. The Guardian reported that three more people have been charged with violent disorder after protests in Southampton this week over Nowak’s murder, bringing the number of people charged after disorder in the city to 14.
The Guardian also quoted Dabinderjit Singh saying attacks on Sikhs had taken place “up and down the country” every day since Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment, and it described the march held to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Meanwhile, the BBC said a jury inquest is set to be held next year investigating the broader circumstances of Nowak’s death, and it reported that a full inquest is due to open at Winchester Coroner's Court with a jury on 20 September 2027.