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Henry Nowak's family welcomes longer term but questions early release

The Court of Appeal increased his killer's minimum term to 25 years, while relatives challenged the reported early release of the killer's mother.

Channel: ITV News ·

United KingdomStory of November 8, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Henry Nowak’s killer asked judge to reduce his sentence - watch as it is instead increased

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0:16Carr announces that the original minimum term is quashed and replaced with 25 years.
0:31Nowak's family describes the emotional toll of returning to court for the appeal.
1:14Brand reports that the killer's mother faces early release because of prison overcrowding.
3:04Carr explains the aggravating factors, including repeated stabbing and the cruelty of filming the dying victim.
9:48The court formally rejects Digwa's appeal and applies credit for time already spent on remand.

Henry Nowak's family describes the appeal hearing as another ordeal, even as it ends with a longer minimum prison term for his killer. Their relief is accompanied by anger over a separate development: the reported impending early release of the killer's mother, convicted of hiding the weapon.

The United Kingdom's ITV News combines Paul Brand's report from the Royal Courts of Justice with the full ruling by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr. According to the report, the Court of Appeal rejected Digwa's attempt to reduce his sentence and increased the minimum term of his life sentence from 21 years to 25.

Attorney General Ellie Reeves had referred the original sentence to the court as unduly lenient. Digwa, meanwhile, had argued that it was manifestly excessive. The judges rejected that argument and found the original minimum term insufficient to reflect the seriousness of the murder.

The report says Digwa fatally stabbed Nowak in Southampton, then filmed him as he lay dying and falsely told emergency services that Nowak had racially abused him. Carr identifies both the repeated use of the dagger against an unarmed man and the deliberate cruelty after the stabbing as reasons for increasing the term. "The filming was a deliberate act of degradation," she says.

The court also addresses the weapon's status as a kirpan: Carr says Digwa's lawful possession of it did not diminish the seriousness of its lethal use. Time already spent in custody will count towards the longer minimum term.

For the family, returning to court carried its own cost. "It's another torture for the family," Henry's father, Mark Nowak, says. A family statement describes the ruling as an important step towards justice.

Brand reports that Digwa's mother faces early release because of prison overcrowding. Henry's mother, Lucy Ross, contrasts the visits still available to the killer's mother with her own loss: "She's lucky enough that she could go and see her boy. I have to go to Henry's grave to go and see Henry."

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