Issue 453  6th June 2026

A man with a “weapon obsession” has been jailed for life for murdering a university student with a “large Sikh dagger” that he claimed to be carrying for religious reasons. Vickrum Digwa, 23, who stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak five times, will serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole. When police arrived at the murder scene in Southampton, Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked his turban off, causing officers to arrest and handcuff the student before they saw his fatal injuries. Hampshire police have apologised for their actions, which received global attention after being criticised by the owner of X, Elon Musk. The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, is investigating the incident.

Speaking outside court, Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, criticised how police had treated his son, whom he described as friendly and inclusive. He said: “Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. We hold Vickrum Digwa solely and 100% responsible for the brutal murder of our son. But Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody. The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading.” He added: “We are calling on the government to treat knife crime as the national emergency that it is.”

The murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak has drawn national attention and questions over how police treated him in his final moments. Nowak was fatally stabbed in Southampton in December by Vickrum Digwa, who falsely claimed he had been racially abused and had acted in self-defence. Digwa was jailed for life on Monday, with a minimum term of 21 years. But the release of police bodycam footage showing Nowak being handcuffed as he lay dying has led to intense scrutiny of the police response - with the case also sparking fresh debates around knife laws, race, policing and public trust...

The IOPC investigation is ongoing and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has said it will act on any recommendations made by the watchdog. A jury inquest next year will also examine the circumstances surrounding Nowak's death. Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg said jurors would consider whether any act or omission by police officers, or any delay in treatment, caused or contributed to his death. Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, is due to be sentenced on 17 July after being found guilty of assisting an offender by attempting to hide the murder weapon. The Attorney General's Office is considering whether Digwa's sentence should be referred to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme after receiving multiple requests. For Nowak's family, the focus remains on ensuring lessons are learned from what happened. Mark Nowak has said he wants his son's story to "make change for the better" and that no other family should experience the loss they have suffered.

An innocent man who was wrongly jailed for 17 years said he is “insulted” at the "soft" sentence given to the real culprit on Friday. Andrew Malkinson, whose case is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, said the real offender, Paul Quinn, had left him to "rot" behind bars. Quinn, 52, and a father of six, was jailed for 21 years, with a further three years on licence, over the 2003 rape of a 33-year-old woman at Manchester Crown Court. Quinn will be eligible for parole after serving 14 years...

Mr Malkinson was released from prison in 2020 and his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2023 after DNA evidence proved that he was not the attacker. Quinn was convicted of the rape of the 33-year-old woman in April. The case is considered one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British criminal history. Sentencing Quinn at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice Bright said his victim is a “hero”. The judge said: “She, not you Paul Quinn, is the person from this case who I will remember for the rest of my days. “She is truly a hero.” Mr Justice Bright said it was obvious how “excruciating” it was for her to come back to court for a second time. “She is a remarkable person,” he said...

Abusers will be evicted from social homes and victims will be able to stay safely in their communities, under a new landmark Social Housing Bill returning to Parliament for its Second Reading today (Monday 1 June). Under new protections, landlords and courts will be able to evict perpetrators of domestic abuse from social housing – without the victim having to leave first.  Currently, landlords can only evict a perpetrator after the victim has already left the home, and in joint tenancies, the only option for the victim is to end the tenancy entirely – potentially leaving them homeless. The Bill also closes a loophole that let abusers serve a Notice to Quit to make victims homeless.

Under the proposed new law, a Notice to Quit served by a perpetrator will not end the social housing joint tenancy while court proceedings are ongoing. In addition, for joint tenancies, courts will be able to transfer the tenancy into the victim’s sole name, or where staying is not appropriate, require the landlord to provide suitable alternative accommodation where available. Last year, around 15,000 households in England were forced to find a new social home because of domestic abuse. This Bill means victims can stay safely in their homes and communities, close to support networks, schools, and work. 

Professor Christina Pagel and Professor Martin Utley, operational researchers, are appointed by the Minister for Courts and Legal Services as advisers on court efficiency and modernisation... The postholders will be responsible for providing expert advice personally to the Minister for Courts and Legal Services, in collaboration with other officials engaged in criminal court reform. This advice will cover efficiency and modernisation in the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts...

Christina has a background in both mathematics and physics, with an undergraduate degree in maths and a PhD in space physics. After 3 years as a post-doctoral physicist in Boston, she made the transition into operational research applied to health care and joined the UCL Clinical Operational Research Unit (CORU) in late 2005 as a post-doctoral research fellow. In October 2018 she became Professor of Operational Research and was Director of CORU from 2017-2022. From 2013-2019, she also spent time as an honorary “researcher in residence” within the critical care units at Great Ormond Street Hospital... Martin Utley is a Professor of Operational Research at UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit (CORU). His published work includes the development of analytical and simulation models of the flow of people through complex systems in health care, and the development of predictive models of clinical outcomes and length of stay. Martin joined UCL in 1996 with PhD in High Energy Physics from the University of Glasgow and served as Director of UCL CORU from 2007 to 2017.