The family of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old student who was fatally stabbed in Southampton, has described the appeal against his killer's life sentence as "ludicrous." Vickrum Digwa, 23, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years earlier this year. He is appealing his sentence on Thursday, claiming it is too severe.
Digwa stabbed Nowak five times with an eight-inch blade on December 3, subsequently lying to police that the student had initiated the altercation and subjected him to racial abuse. Henry's stepmother, Katie Nowak, told ITV News, "It just doesn't feel fair to us at all. It's another process that we've got to go through. It's another fight that we have to have." She added, "It was a very clear verdict. It's not right that he's allowed to do this."
The court will also review a referral from the Attorney General, who contends that Digwa's sentence was unduly lenient. Meanwhile, Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, who was jailed for three years in July for assisting an offender by hiding the murder weapon, is scheduled for early release in December. This comes after serving just one year of her sentence, under the government's early release scheme for prisoners serving fixed-term sentences of up to two and a half years, who are now automatically released on license after serving a third of their time.
Henry's mother, Lucy Ross, expressed her distress, stating, "Mother to mother – she is no mother." She questioned Kaur's actions, "She hid the knife, which had Henry's blood on it." The early release date feels "particularly cruel" to the Nowak family, falling close to the anniversary of Henry's death. "She's lucky enough that she could go and see her boy. I have to go to Henry's grave to see Henry," Ross added.
Henry's father, Mark Nowak, called the early release of Kiran Kaur an "absolute disgrace," questioning its fairness. "She'll be out for Christmas, and I won't have Christmas with Henry." The family urged the government to reconsider its decision and the early release scheme, emphasizing that "victims need to have far more weight and thought given to how they feel."
Kiran Kaur is appealing her own sentence. She has served 221 days on remand, which the Ministry of Justice stated was considered in her sentencing. Her offense, assisting an offender, is not among those excluded from the recent changes to the early release scheme.
A special program, "Dear Henry: Our Fight for Justice - A Tonight Special," is set to air on Thursday, November 5, at 9 p.m. on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and the ITV News YouTube channel.