U.K. may review killer’s 21-year jail sentence after ‘multiple requests,’ attorney general says

Henry Nowak, 18, was a first year finance student in Southampton. Photo by Southampton police

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The U.K. attorney general’s office said it may reconsider a killer’s 21-year jail sentence after receiving “multiple requests” to review it under Britain’s unduly lenient sentence (ULS) scheme.

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On Monday, Vickrum Digwa, 23, was sentenced in Southampton Crown Court to a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years for stabbing Henry Nowak, 18, five times with a religious blade.

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“We have received multiple requests for Vickrum Digwa’s sentence to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme,” a spokesperson for the office said in a media statement.

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“The law officers have 28 days from sentencing to carefully consider the case and make a decision.”

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The incident occurred in the south coast city of Southampton, England, on Dec. 3, 2025.

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Digwa, who is Sikh, told police that Nowak had racially abused him, knocked his turban off and grabbed him by the hair.

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Body-worn police camera footage, which Nowak’s family agreed to make public, shows Nowak collapsed on his side, saying repeatedly he had been stabbed and could not breathe. “Don’t think you have, mate,” an officer says. Nowak is then made to sit up and is handcuffed behind his back.

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While checking his body for stab wounds, the officer reads him his rights, but Nowak is unresponsive. The footage lasts three minutes. Nowak had been stabbed five times, including two to the back of his legs and a fatal wound to his chest.

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During Digwa’s trial, prosecution called the racism allegation a “wicked lie” and said he further deceived officers at the scene by telling them he had not stabbed Nowak.

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Nowak’s death has triggered a strong reaction in Britain. Conservative party leader Nigel Farage criticized the sentence on Tuesday, asserting there’a “two-tier Britain where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.”

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Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, pushed back on Farage’s view on Good Morning Britain, saying “that’s not how we solve this.”

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“We can’t solve it by whipping people up. We can’t solve it by making them angry,” she said, according to ITV.

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Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer said he “felt sick” watching “harrowing” body cam footage of Nowak, who he called a “kind, thoughtful and much loved young man” whose loss was “devastating” for those who knew him.

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Nowak’s family has called his encounter with police “inhumane and degrading.”

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“Henry told officers that he could not breathe nine times. He told them that he had been stabbed four times. Henry was pulled across the gravel, his hands forced behind his back and he was placed in handcuffs,” his father, Mark, said. He has called on the government to treat knife crime as a “national emergency.”