UK appeal court adds four years to sentence of Henry Nowak's killer after "unduly lenient" referral

The Court of Appeal on Thursday increased the minimum term of Vickrum Digwa, who stabbed Southampton University student Henry Nowak to death, from 21 years to 25 years, the UK government said.

Attorney General Ellie Reeves referred the sentence to the court under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Digwa had been sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on June 1, 2026, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years for murder and having a bladed article.

Nowak, a first-year student, was walking home alone shortly after 11 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2025, when he encountered Digwa by chance, according to the judgment. The court found Digwa was the aggressor, that he filmed the aftermath, and that he handed the murder weapon to his mother to remove it from the scene and kept Nowak's phone. The court rejected Digwa's own bid to have his sentence reduced.