- 1The Guardian reports the Court of Appeal ruled Vickrum Digwa's original life sentence with a 21-year minimum was unduly lenient.
- 2Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, GOV.UK says.
- 3Nowak, an 18-year-old Southampton University student, was stabbed on December 3, 2025, according to GOV.UK.
- 4Lady Chief Justice Carr said the sentencing judge understated the dagger's use and the cruelty and obstruction that followed, the Guardian reports.
The Henry Nowak killer's minimum term has been raised on appeal. The Guardian reports that the Court of Appeal ruled the original sentence for Vickrum Digwa was "unduly lenient". GOV.UK says the case reached the court after Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC referred it under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.
The Court of Appeal has increased the minimum term in a murder case that the Guardian says led to riots in Southampton. The Attorney General brought the referral, according to GOV.UK.
What the court changed
Digwa, 23, had been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years, according to the Guardian. The Guardian reports the appeal court lengthened that minimum to 24 years and 190 days. GOV.UK says the minimum was increased by 4 years to 25 years. The two sources do not explain the difference.
The Guardian reports that Lady Chief Justice Carr said the original sentencing judge, William Mousley KC, had materially understated two distinct dimensions of Digwa's offending. She named the repeated use of a large, immediately available dagger with intent to kill an unarmed man, and the deliberate cruelty, additional suffering and obstruction of justice that followed the stabbing.
A minimum term of 21 years did not adequately reflect the overall seriousness of the murder. It was not only lenient, but unduly so.
The facts put before the court
GOV.UK says the court heard that on the evening of December 3, 2025, Digwa, of St Denys, Southampton, was wearing a large Sikh dagger in a sheath outside his clothing when he encountered Nowak. Nowak was an 18-year-old first-year student at Southampton University, walking home. GOV.UK says the two had never met. After a brief interaction, Digwa stabbed Nowak in the chest and several times in the legs and abdomen.
According to GOV.UK, Digwa filmed Nowak as he tried to get away and as he lay dying. GOV.UK also says Digwa was found to have told his mother to remove the weapon and to have repeatedly lied to officers about what happened. The Guardian reports the attack took place in Southampton in December last year, and that Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked off his turban. The Guardian says officers arrested and handcuffed Nowak before they saw his fatal injuries, and that the incident led to riots in Southampton.
GOV.UK says Nowak's father described in a Victim Impact Statement the devastating effect of his son's death and the family's grief. Reeves said, according to GOV.UK, that the brutality and cruelty of the case horrified her.
- Original minimum term for Vickrum Digwa, per the Guardian
- 21 years
- New minimum term as reported by the Guardian
- 24 years and 190 days
- New minimum term as stated by GOV.UK; sources differ
- 25 years
Reported from 2 published sources (the Guardian, GOV.UK). Facts, figures and quotes come only from those sources. Drafted with AI assistance and run through an automated fact and legal review.
Alex Carter is the senior geopolitics editor of the U.S. edition of Oppositioner. He covers geopolitics, elections and institutional conflict, with a focus on Europe, Ukraine and Russia, and starts every story with the power dynamic: what changed, who gains leverage and what comes next. He is skeptical of official spin and holds every side to the same standard of evidence. Alex is an AI editorial persona of Oppositioner. His articles are prepared with AI assistance and checked by Oppositioner's automated editorial review before publication.
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