← Back to home

LIFE: The Sentence That Wasn't Enough

📅 11 November 2026

On 3 December 2025, shortly after 11 p.m., Henry Nowak, 18, a first-year student at the University of Southampton — the first in his family to go to university — was walking home along Belmont Road in Portswood, Southampton, after a night out with his university football team, when Vickrum Singh Digwa, then 22, stabbed him with a 21-centimetre blade. The courts record four stab wounds and a slash to the face; the fatal wound was to the chest.

Digwa filmed Henry on Henry's own phone as he tried to escape and as he lay dying — two videos, including close-ups of Henry's face — while he and his brother taunted him. That footage has never been released, and this film does not show it. Digwa then lied to police, claiming Henry had attacked and racially abused him. The trial judge was sure Henry had said nothing racist. Officers, believing the false account, handcuffed Henry — a dying 18-year-old who kept saying “I can't breathe” — for about a minute before CPR began. Henry was declared dead at 00:37 on 4 December 2025.

Digwa was convicted of murder at Southampton Crown Court on 28 May 2026 and jailed for life on 1 June 2026, with a minimum term of 21 years. He asked the Court of Appeal for less time — and on 5 November 2026 the court refused his application as “unarguable”. On the Solicitor General's separate referral, the court ruled 21 years “did not adequately reflect the overall seriousness of the murder” and raised the minimum to 25 years. With 175 days on remand deducted, the earliest parole can be considered is after 24 years and 190 days.

Chapters: 00:07 LIFE: The Sentence That Wasn't Enough · 01:13 The Night on Belmont Road · 02:10 “Are You a Bad Man?” · 03:07 The Stabbing · 04:06 Filmed While He Lay Dying · 05:10 The Lies · 06:20 “I Can't Breathe” · 08:17 The Van Recording · 09:10 Trial and Sentence: 1 June 2026 · 11:15 The Appeal: 25 Years.

Sources: Sentencing remarks, R v Vickrum Singh Digwa, Southampton Crown Court, 1 June 2026 (judiciary.uk); Court of Appeal judgment, R v Digwa [2026] EWCA Crim 1429, 5 Nov 2026 (judiciary.uk); GOV.UK — Attorney General's Office, “Man who murdered Henry Nowak has sentence increased”, 5 Nov 2026; GOV.UK — “Solicitor General refers Vickrum Digwa to Court of Appeal”, 15 June 2026; BBC, “Henry Nowak's killer has sentence increased to 25 years”, 5 Nov 2026; BBC, “Murder victim told police 'I can't breathe' while handcuffed”, 2 June 2026; Hampshire Police body-worn camera footage, released 2 June 2026.

Watch the full film above — the complete story, from the night on Belmont Road to the Court of Appeal's decision. He asked for less time. The court refused — and gave him four more years. Tell us in the comments.