As police face criticism for detaining the dying 18-year-old amid false accusations of bigotry from his Sikh attacker, Elon Musk has fueled social media indignation over the Henry Nowak case.
The 54-year-old software mogul has retweeted multiple postings criticizing Hampshire Police and the media for allegedly failing to cover Mr. Nowak’s murder on December 3, 2025.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder earlier this week after fatally stabbing the university student with an eight-inch ceremonial knife while he was making his way home from a night out in Southampton.
A video showed Digwa telling his victim, “I am a bad man,” was shown to the jury during a trial at Southampton Crown Court. Mr. Nowak responded, “Are you a b…” before the camera cut off just before the deadly attack.
Police arrested the critically injured adolescent as he drowned in his own blood after the Sikh murderer lied to them and made up accusations of bigotry against Mr. Nowak.
The 23-year-old killer also told the court a “wicked lie” in which he claimed to have acted in self-defense against the college student after Mr. Nowak hit him, threw a racist slur at him, and knocked off his turban.
However, the jury rejected his false allegations and found him guilty of killing the “kind, intelligent, and talented” 18-year-old Southampton University student illegally.
In the meantime, Hampshire Police issued an apology for handcuffing the dying kid in the face of intense political opposition over Mr. Nowak’s passing, including from Reform leader Nigel Farage.
“This case is an absolute tragedy,” Robert France, the deputy head constable, told the Daily Mail. I regret Henry’s arrest and handcuffing, as well as the fact that his life could not be saved that evening. The victim was him.
In a similar vein, the Crown Prosecution Service has recently encountered political criticism for abandoning their prosecution of two brothers who were seen on camera hitting a police officer. This decision was called “disgraceful” and “completely wrong.”
After two juries failed to reach a decision over whether Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and Muhammad Amaad had assaulted PC Zachary Marsden at Manchester Airport on July 23, 2024, prosecutors announced they would not pursue a third trial.
However, the cop may still face charges for attempting to arrest 21-year-old Amaaz.
In the meantime, after Hampshire Police detained Mr. Nowak, a dying adolescent, Musk offered to finance a private prosecution against them, causing a stir on social media.
Elon Musk (seen on November 19, 2025) has become enraged online over Henry Nowak’s murder after learning that the adolescent was detained due to false accusations of prejudice from his Sikh attacker.
Earlier this week, Vickrum Digwa, 23, was convicted of killing classmate Henry Nowak, 18, with an eight-inch ceremonial sword.
Henry’s relatives described him as “kind and talented” while he was a University of Southampton finance student.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC described Digwa’s accusations as a “wicked lie about a dying man” and told the court that Digwa used race as a “trump card” to trick police into detaining the incorrect guy throughout the trial.
Soon after being detained by police, the Southampton University student, who was enrolled in the first term of his accounting and finance course, passed away from his wounds after collapsing in the street.
The facts surrounding Mr. Nowak’s unjust arrest are currently being looked at by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The adolescent had “drunk less than the legal limit to drive” after deciding to return home at around 11 p.m. after spending the evening out with friends from his football club.
According to the jurors, he was chatting with pals on Snapchat when he noticed Digwa “carrying an extremely large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing.”
Prosecutors told the court that Digwa was “skilled” with blades and had been trained with weapons since he was twelve. Digwa was accused of stabbing Mr. Nowak three times in the front and back during a street altercation.
The court heard that Digwa had an obsession with “an arsenal of weapons” and chose to sleep with them in his bedroom. Additionally, he used “loving terms” when discussing the Kirpan, a ceremonial dagger carried by Sikhs that he is said to have used to kill Mr. Nowak.
In the UK, religious exemption regulations allow Sikhs to carry a Kirpan knife in public.
Digwa was found to have a “Shastar” blade, which is significantly longer at around eight inches long, in addition to a little Kirpan around his neck, completing his religious duties, the court heard.
Mr. Lobbenberg described Digwa to the court as a “man who likes weapons” and “searches for them on his phone,” adding, “He wasn’t at a temple, he had been helping with his brother’s work for Deliveroo.”
In the meantime, a video of the event was discovered on Mr. Nowak’s phone, which Digwa later located in his pocket.
In the video that was shown to the jury, Mr. Nowak can be heard humming to himself and saying “Hello car” before yawning. The film then cuts to Digwa leaving him.
When police arrived, Digwa exploited race as his “trump card,” charging Mr. Nowak of racial abuse so they would make the wrong arrest.
Kiran Kaur, 53, Digwa’s mother, was convicted of aiding a criminal by hiding the murder weapon.
Then, Mr. Nowak can be heard stating, “Innit bad man, what bad man.” Go ahead and claim that you are a bad man.
Before the video ends, Digwa said, “I am a bad man,” to which Mr. Nowak responded, “Are you a b…”
Shortly after, Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was seen on camera carrying the knife back to their family house. His father and brother also arrived at the site.
Kaur will be sentenced on July 17 after being found guilty of aiding an offender, while her murderous son will face his fate this coming Monday at Southampton Crown Court.
According to Mr. Lobbenberg, Digwa not only told the court “wicked lies” regarding claimed racist abuse from Mr. Nowak, but he also lied about the teen’s intoxication because he was under the legal limit for driving.
“The biggest lie, ladies and gentlemen, is why he drew his knife,” he said to the court. From that witness box, he told you that Henry Nowak threatened to kill me. “We suggest that was never said. He was going to f*** me up.” You can be certain that it was never mentioned because, if it had been, why wouldn’t you tell the 999 operator the most crucial reason for your actions? He didn’t notify the on-site police who were inquiring. He didn’t even mention the threat to kill in his defense case statement. “If this was in the forefront of his mind, seared into his memory, why wouldn’t you tell someone?” he asked his brother as he described what had transpired. In the witness box, he said it for the first time.
According to Mr. Lobbenberg, Digwa began telling lies as soon as the incident occurred.
“Drunk” is a lie, “going to murder me” is a lie, and “P***” is a lie,” he declared. He says these lies because he wants to conceal what he has done, which has important implications. “We say that was a wicked lie about a dying man and it is a wicked lie about a dead man to you now,” he said, using racism as a trump card to ensure that what he had done was legal.
In his closing remarks, the prosecutor described Mr. Nowak as a “unarmed young man with a phone” and stated, “This is not a case about Sikhism.” Racism is not at issue here. This is a murder case.
Following the verdict, a number of politicians criticized the police for detaining Mr. Nowak while he was dying; Farage called this “the most shocking example of two-tier policing [he has] ever seen.”
“It is shameful that the police handcuffed Henry as he lay dying, especially as he told them he had been stabbed,” said Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, who also denounced the police’s actions.
In a letter to the home secretary, Reform MP Robert Jenrick expressed his concerns over Mr. Nowak’s arrest while he was dying. “The police seemed more interested in cuffing someone accused of making a racist comment than in saving a dying man,” he wrote. Henry’s final words were, “I can’t breathe.” They accepted his attacker’s accusations of racism without question. There would have likely been rioting and protests by now if he had belonged to an ethnic minority.
“There are so many questions around this tragic death that require answers,” wrote Reform MP Robert Jenrick in a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood regarding the case. “So far, this case has been met with stony silence from the Prime Minister and the rest of your colleagues,” he wrote.
“This stands in stark contrast to how they handled other police-related deaths in the UK and overseas. It’s time you find your voices and took the appropriate action.
