Reform UK Leader and MP Nigel Farage has formally referred the sentence of Vickrum Digwa to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, arguing the punishment fails to reflect what he describes as an “exceptionally serious” killing and a breakdown in how aggravating factors were treated at sentencing.
In a letter addressed to the Rt. Hon. Lord Hermer KC, Attorney General, Nigel Farage set out a detailed challenge to the 21-year minimum term imposed on Digwa following his conviction for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
Farage opened his complaint in stark terms, writing: “I write to refer the sentence of Vickrum Singh Digwa to you under the unduly lenient scheme. Digwa was sentenced yesterday to a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years by HHJ William Mousley K.C., the Recorder of Southampton. A jury unanimously convicted Digwa of repeatedly stabbing Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old white student, with a 21cm Shastar knife. Having delivered these lethal blows, Digwa lied about Henry, falsely claiming that he had racially abused him.”
Farage further alleged serious consequences from that claim, writing: “The effect of these lies - and the grotesque misconduct of the attending police officers - was that Henry died in a pool of his blood, handcuffed on the say-so of his murderer. This crime is a national scandal. Yet it has been met with near silence by our political class.”
A central part of Farage’s objection focused on the judge’s treatment of religious context in sentencing. He cited the sentencing remarks directly: “In this case, the judge ruled at paragraph 30 of his remarks that, ‘as a Sikh’, Digwa had ‘a good legal reason for having the dagger when you met Henry’.” Farage argues this created an improper baseline for sentencing: “The result was that the judge began his sentencing exercise with a starting point of 15 years.”
He also said this has wider implications beyond the case itself, warning: “This ignored the fact that Digwa was carrying not one but two ‘religious knives’, a small ‘kirpan’ as well as the warrior-style ‘Shastar’ and has troubling consequences.”
“Namely, Sikhs are permitted to carry as many and as large a weapon as they like on the streets of Britain without any good cause. There should not be a religious exemption, whereby murderers are punished more leniently if they use religious weapons as instruments of murder.”
Farage also criticized the sentencing calculation, arguing it was too lenient in how aggravating factors were weighted. He wrote: “On any viewing, this is plainly unacceptable.”
He said the case should have been treated at the highest threshold: “This offence, in my view, ought to have been treated as ‘exceptionally serious’ given Digwa’s wicked lie to the police, which caused them to handcuff rather than help Henry. Accordingly, Digwa ought to have received a whole-life tariff. The uplift of eight years for the ten separate aggravating features in this case, including inter alia, the lie, repeated stabbings, perverting the course of justice, lying about Henry, and recording his suffering was materially insufficient.”
He also rejected the age-based mitigation applied at sentencing: “The further reduction to the sentence of two years because Digwa was 22-years-old was also excessive.”
Also on Tuesday, the family of Digwa released a statement apologizing for the pain caused: “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," they wrote.
In a post to X, legendary comedian John Cleese commented on the response by the Sikh community. Responding to a tweet by a Sikh leader condemning the attack unequivocally, Cleese stated: "So encouraging that the Sikh leaders are dealing with this in a totally open and honest way."
In a letter addressed to the Rt. Hon. Lord Hermer KC, Attorney General, Nigel Farage set out a detailed challenge to the 21-year minimum term imposed on Digwa following his conviction for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
Farage opened his complaint in stark terms, writing: “I write to refer the sentence of Vickrum Singh Digwa to you under the unduly lenient scheme. Digwa was sentenced yesterday to a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years by HHJ William Mousley K.C., the Recorder of Southampton. A jury unanimously convicted Digwa of repeatedly stabbing Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old white student, with a 21cm Shastar knife. Having delivered these lethal blows, Digwa lied about Henry, falsely claiming that he had racially abused him.”
Farage further alleged serious consequences from that claim, writing: “The effect of these lies - and the grotesque misconduct of the attending police officers - was that Henry died in a pool of his blood, handcuffed on the say-so of his murderer. This crime is a national scandal. Yet it has been met with near silence by our political class.”
A central part of Farage’s objection focused on the judge’s treatment of religious context in sentencing. He cited the sentencing remarks directly: “In this case, the judge ruled at paragraph 30 of his remarks that, ‘as a Sikh’, Digwa had ‘a good legal reason for having the dagger when you met Henry’.” Farage argues this created an improper baseline for sentencing: “The result was that the judge began his sentencing exercise with a starting point of 15 years.”
He also said this has wider implications beyond the case itself, warning: “This ignored the fact that Digwa was carrying not one but two ‘religious knives’, a small ‘kirpan’ as well as the warrior-style ‘Shastar’ and has troubling consequences.”
“Namely, Sikhs are permitted to carry as many and as large a weapon as they like on the streets of Britain without any good cause. There should not be a religious exemption, whereby murderers are punished more leniently if they use religious weapons as instruments of murder.”
Farage also criticized the sentencing calculation, arguing it was too lenient in how aggravating factors were weighted. He wrote: “On any viewing, this is plainly unacceptable.”
He said the case should have been treated at the highest threshold: “This offence, in my view, ought to have been treated as ‘exceptionally serious’ given Digwa’s wicked lie to the police, which caused them to handcuff rather than help Henry. Accordingly, Digwa ought to have received a whole-life tariff. The uplift of eight years for the ten separate aggravating features in this case, including inter alia, the lie, repeated stabbings, perverting the course of justice, lying about Henry, and recording his suffering was materially insufficient.”
He also rejected the age-based mitigation applied at sentencing: “The further reduction to the sentence of two years because Digwa was 22-years-old was also excessive.”
Also on Tuesday, the family of Digwa released a statement apologizing for the pain caused: “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," they wrote.
In a post to X, legendary comedian John Cleese commented on the response by the Sikh community. Responding to a tweet by a Sikh leader condemning the attack unequivocally, Cleese stated: "So encouraging that the Sikh leaders are dealing with this in a totally open and honest way."
