The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has warned of a 'dangerous undercurrent' in the wake of the murder of Henry Nowak, who was falsely accused of racism by a Sikh man who fatally stabbed him with a ceremonial dagger. Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years for the December 2025 murder of 18-year-old Nowak.
Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused and attacked by Nowak and told police that the teenager knocked his turban off and caused an eye injury. Hampshire police released footage from body-worn cameras showing Nowak being handcuffed despite repeatedly telling police officers that he had been stabbed. At one point an officer tells him: 'I don't think you have, mate.'
The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has called for 'pure cold rage' over the disturbing case, which has sparked widespread criticism including on social media. 'An accusation of a racial slur was treated more seriously than an act of murder,' Farage said.
Speaking in the Commons, Mahmood said one officer had already been misidentified and had had to move out of his home to protect himself and his family after receiving death threats. She told MPs: 'The police in this country have a sacred duty: to police without fear or favour. Everyone in this country is equal before the law. It is the promise upon which our whole justice system rests, and the equality of every citizen is the foundation on which the openness, tolerance and generosity of this country rests.'
She continued: 'Threats against police officers are utterly unacceptable. There can be no justification for intimidation, abuse or attempts to take the law into one's own hands. A police officer unrelated to this case has been misidentified online and subjected to death threats. He has been forced to relocate to protect himself and his family. Misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse. We must all, together, condemn it.'
Hampshire Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in the constabulary, echoed the sentiment in a statement. 'The Police Federation condemns in the strongest possible terms the calls for mob or vigilante justice against officers we have seen in recent days,' it said. 'That has included police officers being wrongly identified as being involved in the incident and personal details such as home address being widely published. We call on politicians of all parties and media commentators to be more responsible in their comments – and allow due process for the officers involved to ensue.'
Neil Basu, a former assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan police and the most senior minority ethnic police officer in Britain, said he felt compelled to appear on LBC to address Farage's comments. 'It is inflammatory, it is extremist, it is divisive,' Basu told the radio broadcaster. 'It's everything the family didn't want.' 'Language that has been used by people like Farage, yet again – he did this following [the 2024] Southport [stabbings], he's doing it again, he's doing it for political points,' Basu added.
In a statement outside court, Nowak's father, Mark Nowak, said: 'We want to use Henry's heartbreaking story to make change for the better. We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone.' He added: 'As the KC for the prosecution summed up in court: This is not a case about Sikhism. This is not a case about racism. This is a case about murder.'
The policing watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has been investigating the contact Hampshire and Isle of Wight officers had with Nowak immediately before his death on 4 December last year. Mahmood told the Commons the IOPC should report back on its findings within three months. The attorney general's office said it had received 'multiple requests' to review Digwa's sentence under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. A spokesperson for the office said: 'The law officers have 28 days from sentencing to carefully consider the case and make a decision.'
Digwa used what the judge described as a 'large Sikh dagger' to stab Nowak to death in December 2025. In a statement issued via the Sikh Press Association on Tuesday, members of Digwa's family expressed sorrow for the Nowak family's suffering. They said: '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. 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.'
The police and crime commissioner for Hampshire is leading calls for a review of religious exemptions on the carrying of knives after the murder. Donna Jones described the stabbing of the university student as a 'national tragedy' and said she was writing to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, about the issue. Hampshire police have apologised for their actions, which received global attention after being criticised by the owner of X, Elon Musk.
