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  "path": "/news/henry-nowak-sikh-man-tells-court-he-stabbed-student-18-in-self-defence",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-22T16:27:53.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nA Sikh man accused of murdering an 18-year-old student told the court “it was an act of self-defence”.\n\nVictrum Digwa, 23, is on trial at Southampton Crown Court.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHis mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is also on trial, accused of assisting a defendant by allegedly removing the weapon from the scene.\n\nToday, Judge William Mousley KC told the jury that Digwa would face a charge of manslaughter as an alternative charge to murder.\n\nAddressing the jury, the judge explained the alternative charge: “If a person may not have deliberately have caused the fatal injury or may not have intended to kill or cause reasonably serious harm, he or she is not guilty of murder.\n\nIn earlier cross-examination, he claimed he had no intention of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Henry Nowak from Essex, who the prosecution said was wounded five times, including a fatal wound to the chest.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe court heard that Digwa was carrying a ‘Kirpan’, a religious knife carried by initiated Sikhs as a mandatory article of faith.\n\nDigwa told the court, “I have an interest in antique Sikh weapons”.\n\nThe incident took place on December 3 on Belmont Road, when Mr Nowak was walking home from a night out with his football team.\n\nDuring the trial, the court heard that Mr Nowak had barged into Mr Digwa. The defendant told the court: “I was petrified at the time, as he pulled out his phone to record his attack on me.”\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe defendant told the court that Mr Nowak allegedly said to him: “I’m going to kill you.”\n\nWhen questioned in court, Digwa said: “After hearing those words, I thought he was going to use my own kirpan against me.”\n\nHe said: “The kirpan is used as a final resort.”\n\nThe defence said Mr Nowak punched Mr Digwa’s turban and Mr Digwa told the court “Henry was punching me and ragging me about from my hair.”\n\nThe prosecution then referred to evidence heard earlier in the trial, from a pathologist who said \"there's no evidence Henry had been punching people with his hands.”\n\nThe court heard that after the attack, Henry Nowak called out several times, saying “I have been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe”.\n\nTranscripts from the night were read out by the prosecution, in which Henry Nowak is heard saying “I am dying” and Digwa replies “You’re not dying bro.”\n\nContinuing, the prosecution said that about 10 minutes later, Mr Nowak said “You stabbed me” and Digwa replied “No I didn't” and said “You started recording me, thinking you're sick”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe court then saw a brief image from a video that Digwa took of Mr Nowak.\n\nThe prosecution asked the defendant: “He's lying on the floor saying he was dying and you made a video of his face, why?” To which Digwa replied: “I don't know why.”\n\nWhen police were called to the scene, the prosecution said Digwa repeated that Nowak was “pretending”.\n\nBefore the jury, Digwa said: “I thought that he was pretending to be in a worse condition than he was.”\n\nToday in court, Digwa admitted that when speaking to police on the night of the incident, “I did not mention the full truth and that I had stabbed him”.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe prosecution said to Digwa: “Whilst he’s saying he can't breathe you’re explaining [to the police] that you have a swollen eye.”\n\nThe jury heard Nowak’s final words before going silent: “Please brother, I can’t breathe.”\n\nHenry Nowak died at the scene.\n\nThe prosecution also read evidence from a conversation Digwa had with his brother while in custody, where his brother asked him “Why did you use the kirpan” and he replied “I am a fool, I am an idiot.”\n\nDigwa denies all charges.\n\nThe trial continues.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Sikh man on trial for the murder of a student pleads not guilty to manslaughter"
}