Brother of Henry Nowak’s killer calls 999 and ‘lies about what happened’

The brother of Vickrum Digwa, who killed Henry Nowak, reportedly called 999 and told police he and his sibling had been ‘attacked racially’.

Digwa has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of the University of Southampton student.

Digwa lied to police, claiming he was the victim after he was called a ‘P***’ and had his turban knocked off close to his home.

And speaking to officers, his brother is understood to have echoed the claims.

According to a recording of the call, he can be heard saying as police answered the phone: ‘Yeah, we’ve just been attacked racially. Yeah, this f***er. Yeah, we just got attacked racially by some white person.’

Later in the call, he can be heard saying: ‘Literally I just parked my car to come home and he attacked my brother.

‘He physically attacked my brother, we’re Sikhs, we wear a turban and he’s attacked my brother.’

In the call, Digwa’s brother told officers they were ‘restraining’ Mr Nowak because he ‘took my brother’s turban off’ and asked police to ‘have someone out there ASAP’, adding that his brother had had his ‘hair pulled and stuff’ when asked if he had suffered any injuries.

Digwa’s ‘wicked lie’ meant the student was left ‘dying alone, humiliated and handcuffed’ as he lay in a pool of his blood from a fatal 8cm chest wound.

Digwa was also convicted of carrying a knife with a 21cm blade in a public place.

He was filmed by his victim telling him: ‘I am a bad man’ moments before the attack, which included two stab wounds to the back of Mr Nowak’s legs and a fatal wound to his heart.

He also told officers he had not stabbed Mr Nowak despite the student’s pleas for help as he told the police that he was struggling to breathe.

Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, told the court: ‘Henry Nowak dying alone, humiliated and handcuffed was a direct consequence of Vickrum Digwa’s dishonesty.

‘Vickrum Digwa chose on two occasions to make videos, first of Henry fleeing and then of Henry dying with close-ups of his face. The Crown says that is both intrusive and humiliating.

‘His defence describing Henry as a violent drunk racist aggressor compounds the grief of the family.’

Sentencing Digwa to life, Judge William Mousley KC told the defendant: ‘You, Vickrum Digwa, murdered him, by doing so you robbed him of all those he loved, all the things he cared about and liked to do.

‘He would have been expected to live a long and hopefully happy and fulfilling life. You have brought misery and a lifetime of loss upon his family, and great sadness to everyone who knew him.’

Addressing claims that Mr Nowak had used a racist word against Digwa, the judge said: ‘I am sure that Henry said nothing racist.

‘You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character.’

‘He will never be forgotten and he will always be loved beyond words’

Mr Nowak’s mother, Lucy, said in a statement read to the court: ‘Henry was ambitious, determined and full of life, he was a messy sod and always hungry, but he had his whole life ahead of him, that future has been cruelly taken away.

‘The impact of his loss has been devastating not only for me but for our entire family and for all who knew him, we are learning to support one another through this unimaginable grief, but the pain is constant, our family will never be the same.

‘He will never be forgotten and he will always be loved beyond words. No sentence handed down will bring Henry back.’

Meanwhile Mr Nowak’s sister, Olivia, told the court: ‘My brother was my first best friend, an unbreakable bond, we lived our life to the fullest together.’

She added: ‘He lit up every room that he walked into and the world became less valuable the day he left.’

In a statement issued through Sikh PA, a charity which seeks to represent the Sikh community in the media, Digwa’s family members apologised for his actions.

They said: ‘The loss of a young life is a grief that no family should ever have to carry. We are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure.

‘We love Vickrum. We will continue to love him. That love does not stand in opposition to the sorrow we feel for the Nowak family. Both are real, and both will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

‘We would give anything to turn back time so the path of both Henry and Vickrum never crossed that night. We cannot change what has happened, we just hope that no further pain is caused in its name.

‘We apologise to the Sikh community for our son’s actions which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute.

‘We ask that this tragedy is not used by anyone to inflame division or hostility towards any community.

‘We now ask for privacy as we come to terms with what lies ahead.’