Henry Nowak's killer confessed to brother days after murder, transcript reveals

Henry Nowak's killer confessed to stabbing the teenager multiple times as he travelled in a police van with his brother just days after the murder.

A newly-released transcript reveals a conversation Vickrum Digwa had with his sibling, Gurpreet, as they were taken in a police van to a court on 5 December 2025, two days after Henry was stabbed to death in Southampton.

The transcript has been translated from Punjabi to English and was referred to by prosecutors during Digwa's trial, but was only released by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Thursday.

One section reads:

Gurpreet: What did you do?

Vickrum: Eh?

G: What did you do? Did you even do anything?

V: Hmm [yes].

V: One here [pointing towards the shoulder] towards the face and one on the chest.

It also shows Digwa's brother, Gurpreet, advising him to say he acted in self-defence and asking about the knife he used.

"You should say that you were frightened," he tells him, adding: "You should say that it was self-defence."

At another point in the conversation, Digwa's sibling says: "You should have hit him or beaten him up."

"Why did you use the 'kirpan'?" he asks. A kirpan is a small ceremonial blade that many Sikhs are legally permitted to carry as an article of faith - but the Sikh community has disputed using the word to describe Digwa's murder weapon.

At this point Digwa replies: "I am a fool."

While the 23-year-old was concealing a small kirpan, he used a much larger, traditional Indo-Persian dagger to stab Henry.

Another section of the transcript sees Digwa's brother use another Sikh word, 'Dori' - which is used to refer specifically to a kirpan attached to a cord worn around the neck - in a discussion about the weapon.

G: "Which Shastar did you use? [actual term used to refer to the religious or ceremonial weapon]. Which weapon?"

V: "Shura - knife."

G: "You should have said Dui [your other one]."

G: "Say - Dori [one that is worn around the neck, the religious ceremonial small weapon]."

V: "Will check with the solicitor."

G: "Say 'Dori'."

V: "I will ask because mine - [indistinct] had previously been written down."

G: "What was written?"

V: "Kirpan."

G: "You should say that have used Kirpan."

V: "I have said Kirpan too."

G: "Doori [sic] is the Kirpan - means the kirpan. Speak with the solicitor first and then get doori written down or recorded."

Digwa was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 21 years, in June.

A court heard he stabbed finance student Henry, who had been on the way home from a night out with friends, five times in December last year.

Rather than calling an ambulance, he filmed Henry as he lay on the floor, before claiming to have been the victim of a racial attack when police arrived.

More from Sky News:
Were warnings overlooked?
Digwa to appeal conviction

Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, also arrived at the scene and removed the knife he had used. She was found guilty of assisting an offender and is due to be sentenced this week.

The brothers and their father, Moga Singh, are facing additional weapons charges, including possessing 37 swords, flick-knives, an axe and eight knuckledusters.

They pleaded not guilty earlier this month and a trial date has been set for September.

(c) Sky News 2026: Henry Nowak's killer confessed to brother days after murder, transcript reveals