Sikh kirpan murder case: Vickrum Digwa allowed to appeal 21-year term

A 23-year-old British Sikh man convicted of fatally stabbing an 18-year-old student in south-east England has been allowed to appeal the length of his life sentence. Vickrum Digwa, who was jailed in June for the murder of Southampton University student Henry Nowak, will challenge the minimum term of 21 years before he can be considered for parole at the Court of Appeal on November 5.

Digwa has also applied to appeal against his murder conviction, with that application to be decided separately. The case drew wide attention after he attempted a religious self-defence argument, claiming the 21-cm blade used in the attack was a kirpan, a ceremonial knife that Sikhs are legally allowed to carry in the UK.

Digwa was found guilty of stabbing Nowak five times as the student returned home from a night out in Portswood last December. The case sparked uproar, and British Sikh groups later said they feared a "backlash" and a rise in "hate crime" against the community following the proceedings.

In July, Digwa's India-born mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of assisting an offender at Southampton Crown Court. The 53-year-old was found guilty of taking possession of the weapon used by Digwa to kill Nowak in Southampton and helping remove it from the scene to hinder the investigation.

While sentencing Kaur, Justice William Mousley said: "It is a fundamental principle of Sikhism that any kirpan is worn as a symbol of religious faith and is never to be carried for an offensive purpose." He added: "It is obvious that for use to be reasonable, any perceived threat justifying its use would only be in circumstances of great seriousness and urgency." As details of the crime emerged in court earlier this year, British Sikh leaders and parliamentarians condemned what they called the misrepresentation of the kirpan and said that "no religious protection or justification applied" in the case.

The case also led to tensions in Southampton and prompted an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation involving Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary officers amid allegations of "two-tier" policing, under which one community is prioritised over another. The issue related to police body-worn camera footage of Nowak's final moments, which showed him being handcuffed by officers over Digwa's allegations of racism, later debunked in court. The case now returns to the Court of Appeal, while Digwa's separate bid to challenge his murder conviction is still to be decided.