‘I was afraid he’d stab me’: Sikh man claims self-defence in UK student murder trial

A 23-year old Sikh man accused of fatally stabbing a university student in Southampton told a court he believed the teenager was about to use his ceremonial blade against him during a violent struggle in the street. Southampton Crown Court heard Henry Nowak, 18, from Chafford Hundred in Essex, died after an altercation on Belmont Road on 3 December last year while returning to his accommodation after a night out, BBC reported.Vickrum Digwa denies murder and denies carrying a knife in public.Digwa told jurors the incident began shortly before 11.30pm when the pair passed each other on a pavement as he walked to collect curried chips from a nearby car.“To me, it seemed like he was drunk,” the defendant said.“He barged into me. I thought he had done it deliberately.”Digwa said Nowak then turned back and told him: “You could have moved up a little bit more.”The court heard the exchange escalated after the teenager allegedly used a racial slur and said: “Do you think you’re a bad man? I’m from Essex. You don’t know what people from Essex are on.”Jurors were shown footage recorded on a mobile phone after Nowak allegedly started filming the defendant.“I went to block the phone. I’ve grabbed it as well,” Digwa said.“This is when he punched me.”He told the court the confrontation became more aggressive when his turban was pulled off during the struggle.“As I’m bent over, he started saying: ‘I’m going to [expletive] you up, I’m going to kill you,’” Digwa said.The defendant said he feared Nowak would take his kirpan, a ceremonial Sikh blade worn in a sheath around his neck.“I thought I had to do something because I was afraid that he was going to stab me with my own kirpan,” he said.The court previously heard the blade measured around 21cm.Digwa said he never intended to stab the teenager in the chest and claimed he had only tried to push him away. Becoming emotional in court, he added: “I’m sorry that it happened.”Earlier in the trial, jurors heard the first-year University of Southampton student had consumed alcohol before the incident but was below the drink-drive limit.The confrontation was not witnessed, prosecutors said. Nowak suffered five stab wounds or cuts and attempted to escape by climbing over a fence after being injured.The court also heard police officers initially handcuffed the teenager before realising he had sustained fatal injuries.Digwa, of St Denys Road in Southampton, admitted he did not immediately tell officers he had stabbed Nowak because he was “scared”.His mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is also standing trial, accused of assisting an offender by allegedly removing the weapon from the scene. She denies the charge.