For the second consecutive day, the jury at Southampton Crown Court failed to reach a verdict in the highly controversial trial surrounding the killing of 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak, with jurors ordered to continue deliberations on Thursday morning.
The case has become one of the most politically explosive murder trials in Britain this year due to allegations of police misconduct, claims of ‘two-tier policing’, and growing controversy surrounding the handling of both the investigation and the trial itself.
Nowak, a first-year accountancy and finance student from Essex, was fatally stabbed on 3 December 2025 in Southampton’s Portswood district by 23-year-old Sikh man Vickrum Digwa, who denies murder and claims he acted in self-defence. Prosecutors told the court that Digwa used a 21-centimetre Sikh ceremonial blade, commonly referred to as a kirpan or shastar, inflicting five stab wounds, including a fatal wound to the chest.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Nowak attempted to flee after being stabbed, climbing over a fence while leaving a visible blood trail behind him. Prosecutors stated that Digwa ‘aggressively pursued’ the wounded teenager through the streets before police officers arrived.
The controversy intensified further after prosecutors alleged that Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, removed the weapon from the scene and took it back to the family home following the stabbing. She denies assisting an offender.
‘Pressure continues to mount for the release of police body camera footage from the scene’
The trial sparked widespread outrage after prosecutors revealed that officers initially handcuffed the visibly bleeding teenager after Digwa claimed he had been racially abused. Nowak collapsed shortly afterwards and died at the scene.
Many accused the police officers of misconduct and ‘two-tier policing’, while mainstream media outlets and politicians also came under fire for their relatively muted reaction to the highly controversial case. Critics argued that the incident was downplayed because the victim was a white British teenager while the suspect belonged to a minority background.
Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount for the release of police body camera footage from the scene. Right-wing politicians, commentators, and public figures—including Reform UK politicians and Elon Musk—have demanded greater transparency regarding police actions during the incident, arguing that withholding the footage only fuels suspicion surrounding police conduct. Musk has also offered to help fund a wrongful death lawsuit related to the handling of the case.
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick even raised the issue in parliament, arguing that the footage could determine whether officers prioritized allegations of racism over providing urgent medical treatment to a dying teenager. Calls for the footage’s release intensified further after reports emerged that Nowak’s final words included ‘I can’t breathe’ while he remained restrained by police officers.
These were also the final words of George Floyd, whose death has frequently been compared to Henry Nowak’s case, particularly regarding the contrast between the global protests and violent riots following Floyd’s death in the United States and the relatively muted reaction to Nowak’s killing.
The deliberations attracted additional controversy after Judge William Mousley KC instructed jurors to consider manslaughter as an alternative verdict to murder. According to media reports, the judge explained that if jurors conclude Digwa did not intentionally cause fatal injuries or did not intend to kill or seriously harm Nowak, then murder would not apply.
That further intensified the already high emotional tensions surrounding the trial, with right-wing commentators and social media users arguing that presenting manslaughter as a possible outcome appears incompatible with the severity and nature of the attack described during the proceedings. According to prosecutors, Digwa stabbed Nowak multiple times, including in the back of his legs while pursuing him.
The alternative verdict became especially controversial after evidence presented in court suggested that the victim was below the legal drink-driving limit despite repeated defence claims that he had been heavily intoxicated and aggressive. Prosecutors also challenged Digwa’s account that he had been racially attacked or feared for his life.
No police officers involved in the incident are currently known to be facing criminal charges or disciplinary proceedings.
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