Digwa Takes the Stand — Claims Turban Was Pulled, Says It Was Self-Defense

The trial at Southampton Crown Court moved into new territory Wednesday when 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa testified in his own defense — and offered a dramatically different account of what happened the night Henry Nowak died.

Digwa told the jury he had been racially abused by Nowak and that the 18-year-old had knocked his turban off his head. According to Breitbart's coverage of the testimony, Digwa claimed Nowak barged into him, appeared drunk, and began filming him on a mobile phone.

Digwa said he took the phone from Nowak to stop the recording. That phone was later found in Digwa's pocket by police. He claims that after he took it, Nowak punched him and pulled his turban off entirely.

Digwa admitted to stabbing Nowak in the back of the legs. He denied stabbing him in the chest — and said he only learned of the chest wound during his police interview, according to ITV's reporting cited by Breitbart.

What the Blood Alcohol Evidence Actually Says

The defense angle about Nowak being drunk deserves scrutiny. Yes, the court heard Nowak had been drinking with his soccer team that evening. But his blood alcohol level at the time of death was low enough that he could have legally driven a car in the UK.

The prosecution's portrait of Nowak is of an 18-year-old first-year university student, walking home, who ended up stabbed five times — including once in the chest with a wound three inches deep.

The Body Cam Footage

The body cam footage shown to jurors Thursday proved most damaging to the police response.

According to the Daily Echo, as cited by Breitbart, the footage shows officers placing Nowak in handcuffs while he lay on his side. He told officers he had been stabbed and that he could not breathe. An officer told him he was under arrest on suspicion of assault.

Nowak repeated that he had been stabbed. A male voice responded: "I don't think you have, mate."

Prosecutor Neil King read from a transcript of the footage in court. The exchange documented includes: "He is not unconscious, mate" followed by "he isn't breathing."

An 18-year-old with five stab wounds — one severing a major blood vessel — told police he couldn't breathe. They arrested him. Someone told him he probably hadn't been stabbed. Then he stopped breathing.

Musk Responds — But No Lawsuit Filed Yet

Elon Musk saw footage and reporting about the case and went directly at the officers involved. On X Wednesday, he wrote: "Unconscionable. I am happy to fund a wrongful death lawsuit against these disgusting excuses for law enforcement. They damn well better have been fired."

Musk was responding to a post from Tommy Robinson, who had amplified a UK-based user sharing the Daily Echo report. Musk also separately asked whether any action had been taken against the officers.

No formal legal filing connected to Musk has been announced. This is a promise made on X, not a filed lawsuit.

The Great British PAC — a political action group — has said through a spokesperson that it has been in discussions with legal representatives and that the matter was expected to be raised with Musk directly in the coming days. Barrister Kareesha Turner of Imperium Chambers told the Conservative Post that an independent IOPC investigation is warranted and that "any failings should result in accountability through disciplinary or criminal proceedings where justified."

The Police Statement That Disappeared

The UK mainstream press has been notably cautious about how it frames this story. The racial abuse allegation against Nowak has received prominent placement in many reports. The body cam audio — where a dying teenager is told he probably hasn't been stabbed — has received far less.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary issued a statement after Nowak's death. According to the Blaze, that statement was subsequently scrubbed from their website. A police department deleted its public statement about a death that occurred in their custody.

No major UK outlet has led with that deletion.

The Outstanding Questions

Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, remains charged with assisting an offender — prosecutors allege she removed the knife from the scene and hid it at the family home. The trial is ongoing.

Whether Digwa's self-defense claim holds up is for the jury to decide. The law allows for that process.

What the law does not allow for is police officers ignoring a dying teenager's repeated statements that he's been stabbed. If the body cam transcript is accurate as read in court, that represents a significant failure in police response.

Two questions remain unanswered: Were the officers fired? And why did Hampshire police delete their statement?

Henry Nowak's family deserves answers.