CCTV footage has revealed how 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak was murdered on Belmont Road in Southampton [1], [5].
The case highlights a rare and lethal manipulation of police procedure, where a perpetrator used false allegations to incapacitate a victim before the law could intervene.
According to court records and footage, the incident occurred Dec. 3, 2025 [3]. The attacker, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, used an eight-inch ceremonial knife to stab the student [2], [4]. Following the attack, Digwa said he had been the victim of racial abuse [1], [2].
This deception prompted responding police officers to handcuff Nowak while he was suffering from the wounds [1], [2]. The footage shows the final moments of the student before he died [3].
Legal proceedings regarding Digwa have seen conflicting reports. Some records indicate that Digwa was jailed for life [1], while other reports describe him as the accused in the murder [2]. The attack took place on Belmont Road, a residential area of Southampton [5].
Investigators used the CCTV to reconstruct the timeline of the stabbing and the subsequent interaction with law enforcement. The evidence showed that the racial abuse claims were fabricated to shift the narrative of the confrontation [1], [2].
“Vickrum Digwa falsely claimed he had been racially abused, prompting police to handcuff the victim.”
This case underscores the critical danger of 'weaponizing' social grievances to manipulate emergency responders. By falsely claiming racial abuse, the perpetrator successfully tricked police into neutralizing the victim, effectively removing any remaining chance for the victim to defend himself or receive immediate, unobstructed medical aid.
