Prosecution Accuses Murder Defendant of Using Fake Racism Claim to Frame Victim

A prosecutor has accused a defendant of using a bogus allegation of racism as a trump card to ensure arriving police officers arrested his dying victim, a jury has heard.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, is on trial at Southampton Crown Court accused of the murder of 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak and possession of a bladed article.

The prosecution closing speech detailed how the defendant allegedly inflicted three stab wounds to the front and three to the back of the victim during a street confrontation.

Nicholas Lobbenberg KC, prosecuting, submitted that Digwa must have known the wounds were fatal despite his contemporary denials of stabbing the teenager.

The court heard that when police officers arrived at the scene, the defendant accused the victim of racial abuse to deliberately orchestrate the arrest of the wrong man.

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The Crown described the allegation as a wicked lie about a dying man, designed to disguise the fact that a lethal assault had just taken place.

Jurors were told that Digwa had trained with weapons since the age of 12 and was highly skilled in the use of blades.

The prosecution asserted that the defendant slept with an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom, searched for them online, and spoke of the ceremonial kirpan blade in loving terms.

The finance student was walking home from a night out on 3 December 2023 when he was repeatedly stabbed with the eight-inch religious knife.

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The jury heard that Digwa filmed the victim as he attempted to escape by climbing over a fence, leaving a trail of blood across the local area.

Neighbours contacted emergency services after hearing the victim shouting that he was going to die, but arriving officers initially handcuffed the teenager based on the defendant's counter-allegation.

The University of Southampton student collapsed and died from internal injuries shortly after the handcuffs were applied by the responding police units.

The prosecution further alleged that the defendant's mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, recovered the blade at the scene and hid it alongside other weapons at their home address.

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Kaur has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender and elected not to give evidence during the trial to avoid self-incrimination, according to the prosecution.

Mr Lobbenberg rejected defence claims that the victim was heavily intoxicated, noting forensic evidence showed his alcohol levels were safely below the legal drink-drive limit.

The Crown argued that the defendant's claim that the victim threatened to kill him was a recent fabrication that did not appear in his formal defence case statement.

The court heard that under United Kingdom legislation, Sikhs are permitted to carry a kirpan in public places under specific religious exemption criteria.

However, the prosecution noted that Digwa already wore a smaller ceremonial kirpan that satisfied his religious obligations, meaning the larger eight-inch weapon was surplus to those requirements.

The prosecution concluded that the incident was an uncomplicated case of murder rather than a dispute concerning religion or racial hostility.

The criminal trial continues to progress toward its final stages before the jury at Southampton Crown Court.