Sikh group calls for public inquiry into Henry Nowak's death over 'catastrophic multi-agency failures'

A Sikh group has called for a public inquiry into Henry Nowak's murder after there were "catastrophic multi-agency failures".

Dabinderjit Singh, the Sikh Federation’s Chief Executive of Political Engagement has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary David Lammy and Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer calling for an inquiry.

Mr Singh said misinformation about the knife used by Vickrum Digwa to fatally stab Mr Nowak in December last year had been "highly damaging" to Sikhs.

The 18-year-old finance student was stabbed five times by Digwa using a Sikh ceremonial knife on December 3 last year and died in police custody after his killer accused him of being racist.

Mr Singh said "serious questions" on whether Mr Nowak's death was preventable have been left unanswered and described the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation "entirely insufficient".

He wrote: "While criminal justice has been served against the perpetrator, the wider systemic failures exposed by this case demand immediate, independent and transparent investigation."

The conduct of police officers and cultural issues throughout the court case were, he said, among "catastrophic multi-agency failures".

"Local intelligence indicates that Digwa was well known to law enforcement and ‘on the police radar’," he continued.

"A wider inquiry must establish why this critical intelligence failed to inform the responding officers’ risk assessments, and whether systemic biases contributed to the immediate criminalisation of a dying victim.

"A statutory public inquiry is the only mechanism capable of delivering accountability."

Digwa, 23, murdered Mr Nowak with a 21cm knife, which the prosecution said was a kirpan he carried as part of his Sikh beliefs.

A kirpan is a sharp bladed object, with no prescribed length and Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform.

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Under Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the law allows exemptions to a carry a knife for work, as part of national costume or for religious reasons.

While Digwa was wearing a small kirpan knife, his second blade, described by the judge as a "large Sikh dagger", was used to kill Mr Nowak.

"Under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and its July 2022 statutory guidance, a kirpan is clearly defined and understood to feature a curved blade," Mr Singh wrote.

"The prosecution and police possessed the weapon for over six months; they knew, or ought to have known, that the blade of the weapon was straight, not of Sikh origin, and could not be a kirpan.

"By allowing a convicted murderer’s false characterisation of the weapon to stand unchallenged in open court, the justice system facilitated a highly damaging wave of misinformation."

Last week, Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch said in a statement after meeting Mr Nowak's family: "We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good.

"We also need to examine where the law needs to change."

She concluded she "promised" the Nowaks their son will have a "positive legacy... out of this tragedy".

"I promised the family that we will work to ensure there is a positive legacy for Henry out of this tragedy," she said.

"That is my focus now."

Thousands of Sikhs demonstrated in London yesterday for the 42nd anniversary of the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, where hundreds of people were killed.

The march comes after protests broke out in Southampton on Tuesday last week outside Hampshire Constabulary.

Mr Singh said at the march in the capital Sikhs had been subject to attacks "up and down the country" since Digwa was handed a life sentence, to which he will serve a minimum of 21 years.

Digwa was investigated by the police in 2023 over stealing ceremonial blades from Sikh temple in Southampton, but nothing came of it.