Murder accused with Sikh blade denies manslaughter

A Sikh man on trial for stabbing a university student in the street has denied a charge of manslaughter.

Henry Nowak, 18, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, was killed as he walked back from a night out in Southampton on 3 December.

Vickrum Digwa, 23, is accused at Southampton Crown Court of the murder and carrying a knife in public, both of which he denies.

The judge, William Mousley KC, told the jury that he had ordered Digwa to face a charge of manslaughter as an alternative to the murder charge.

Explaining the new charge, the judge told the jurors: "If a person may not have deliberately have caused the fatal injury or may not have intended to kill or cause reasonably serious harm, he or she is not guilty of murder.

"Then there is an alternative charge and that charge is the offence of manslaughter and a person commits the offence of manslaughter if he or she deliberately, unlawfully and not in reasonable self defence, caused the death of another by an act that a reasonable person would realise could result in some, if not really serious, harm."

Previously, the court heard the defendant was carrying a 21cm (8in) blade in a sheath around his neck in Belmont Road at about 23:30 GMT.

The prosecution says the kirpan – a religious knife – caused five stab wounds to Nowak, including two to the back of his legs and a fatal wound to the chest.

Responding to a question by the jury as to whether it was illegal to carry a knife of that size, the judge said it would have to be for a good reason such as "only for self defence" or for religious reasons.

He added: "It is for Vickrum Digwa to prove that it is more likely than not that he had a good reason for having it."

Giving legal directions to the jury, the judge added: "Do not allow any feelings of sympathy, your decision must be unbiased."

Previously, the court heard the University of Southampton first year student was walking back to his accommodation after drinking to a level below the drink-drive limit.

Jurors were told the attack was not witnessed and Nowak tried to escape by climbing over a fence.

Giving evidence, the defendant, of St Denys Road, Southampton, told the court that Nowak, who he described as drunk, had racially abused him before punching him and knocking his turban off.

He said that he had stabbed Nowak to the back of his legs in self defence after Nowak had threatened him and grabbed him by the hair.

He claimed he had not realised at the time that he had caused the fatal stab wound to his chest.

Police initially handcuffed the victim before discovering his fatal injury a short time later, the court previously heard.

Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is also on trial and denies assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the murder scene.

The trial continues.