An independent review will examine warning signs before Henry Nowak’s murder, the police response and how his family was treated.
The central question in Henry Nowak’s case is no longer who killed him: Vickrum Digwa was convicted. It’s whether warning signs were missed, and why police handcuffed an 18-year-old who was dying from a stab wound. Nowak’s family has welcomed an independent review into his murder.
Digwa, 23, was convicted in May of stabbing Nowak to death in December 2025 and sentenced to life in prison. But the circumstances surrounding the arrest have kept the case in the public eye. Digwa had falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist attack; officers arrested and handcuffed Nowak in his final minutes. When Nowak said he had been stabbed, one officer replied: ‘I don’t think you have, mate.’
That response has become a stark part of the case. More than a dozen people were arrested after an anti-police protest turned violent shortly after the verdict. The following month, Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in prison for assisting an offender by removing the knife he used.
Review to examine missed chances
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs in the House of Commons that an independent review would examine Nowak’s death. Former Conservative justice secretary Alex Chalk, who lost his seat in the 2024 general election, will lead it. The review will ask what was known about Digwa before the killing and whether there were ‘any missed opportunities to intervene’.
Mahmood said the review would also consider how the criminal justice system treated Nowak’s family. It could examine police actions once the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s investigation is complete. Two Hampshire officers are under investigation for potential gross misconduct over the arrest and their alleged failure to recognise that Nowak urgently needed medical help.
An initial report is due to Mahmood within five months. That timetable sets an early milestone, but the scope leaves a key point uncertain: how far the review will be able to assess police conduct while the separate investigation is ongoing.
‘We must get to the truth of what happened before, during and after that awful night, and we must do everything in our power to ensure no family suffers the same fate,’ Mahmood said. ‘We owe that to Henry and to all who loved him. They deserve answers, and this review will provide them.’
A review is only a first step
Henry Nowak’s family called the announcement of an independent review “a significant moment” in their campaign for justice. They said the effort to get answers, compounded by their grief, had taken an immense emotional toll. They hope the review, the ongoing investigations and the inquest will establish what happened and lead to accountability and meaningful change. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also backed the review, saying families should not have to spend years trying to find out what went wrong after a child dies. She said her party would scrutinise its findings. That scrutiny matters, but the family’s statement makes clear what will count: answers, and action that follows them.
Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life in prison for Henry Nowak’s murder. Digwa stabbed the student five times with a 21cm blade, which he said he carried for Sikh religious reasons. He then told police he was the victim of a racist attack in which his turban was knocked off. Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg described that account as a “wicked lie”; he said it left Henry dying alone, handcuffed and humiliated, with a fatal wound to his chest.
At sentencing, Judge William Mousley said he was sure Henry had said nothing racist, and that Digwa’s allegation clashed with Henry’s character. Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, held Digwa solely responsible for the murder while also condemning the police response. Henry, he said, did not receive the dignity or care he deserved; his treatment was “inhumane and degrading”.
The independent review now faces a hard test. If you’re following the case, the question is whether it can explain how Henry was treated while in police custody—and whether its findings produce the accountability his family has sought.
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