Henry Nowak's killer's appeal 'ludicrous', says family

Henry Nowak's family say it is "ludicrous" their son's killer is being allowed to appeal against his sentence and it is a "disgrace" his mother, who hid the murder weapon, will be released from prison early.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, was found guilty of the 18-year-old student's murder and sentenced to life in prison, with a 21-year minimum term, earlier this year.

He is appealing against his sentence on Thursday, arguing that it is too severe.

Digwa stabbed Henry, from Chafford Hundred in Essex, five times with an eight-inch blade in Southampton on 3 December – and lied to police that the student had started the altercation and racially abused him.

In an interview with ITV News' UK Editor, Paul Brand, Henry's stepmother, Katie Nowak says: "It just doesn't feel fair to us at all.

"It's another process that we've got to go through. It's another fight that we have to have.

"It was a very clear verdict. It's not right that he's allowed to do this."

The court will also consider a referral by the Attorney General, who argues that Digwa's sentence was unduly lenient.

Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, was sentenced to three years in prison in July for assisting an offender, after she hid the blade Digwa used to kill Henry.

Henry's mother, Lucy Ross told ITV News, "Mother to mother – she is no mother."

"We all protect our children, but we also protect our children from right and wrong."

"But she never did the right thing. She hid the knife, which had Henry's blood on it."

ITV News last month revealed that Kaur will be freed this December, after serving just one year of her sentence, as part of the government's early release scheme.

It's a date that feels "particularly cruel" to the Nowaks, falling around the anniversary of Henry's murder.

Lucy Ross told Paul Brand: "As soon as she gets out, she could arrange a visiting order to go see [Digwa]."

"She's lucky enough that she could go and see her boy. I have to go to Henry's grave to see Henry."

Henry's father, Mark Nowak, echoed this: "It's an absolute disgrace. Let's be honest."

"She'll be out in December of this year having received a three-year sentence. How on earth can that be right?"

"She'll be out for Christmas, and I won't have Christmas with Henry."

Henry's family told ITV News the government needs to seriously rethink its decision to allow Kaur's early release - and the scheme as a whole.

Katie Nowak, Henry's stepmother, says, "I'd say that victims need to have far more weight and thought given to how they feel."

"Because throughout this whole process, it doesn't feel like anyone's on your side."

Under the Sentencing Act 2026, which came into force on 1 October, most prisoners serving fixed-term sentences of up to two and a half years are automatically released on licence after serving a third of the time, rather than half.

Kaur, who is appealing against her sentence, would serve the rest of it in the community on licence, and could be recalled to prison if she breached her licence conditions.

She spent 221 days on remand, which the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said was taken into account when she was sentenced.

Her crime of assisting an offender is not one of the offences excluded from changes to the early release scheme.

Dear Henry: Our Fight for Justice - A Tonight Special airs on Thursday 5 November at 9pm, on ITV1, ITVX, STV and ITV News YouTube.