A 23-year-old Sikh man accused of stabbing a Southampton university student said he believed the teenager was about to use his ceremonial blade on him during a violent street struggle.
The BBC reported that Southampton Court heard from Henry Nowak, 18, from Chafford Hundred in Essex, who died after an altercation on Belmont Road on December 3 last year while returning to his accommodation after a night out.Vikram Digwa denies murder and denies carrying a knife in public.Degoa told jurors the incident began shortly before 11.30pm when the pair passed each other on the sidewalk while walking to collect curry chips from a nearby car.“To me, it looked like he was drunk,” the defendant said.“He stormed out on me. I thought he did it on purpose.”DeGoa said Nowak then came back and told him, “You could have moved up a little higher.”The court heard the exchange escalated after the teenager allegedly used a racial slur and said: “Do you think you’re a bad guy? I’m from Essex. You don’t know what people from Essex do.”Jurors were shown footage recorded on a cell phone after Nowak began filming the defendant.
“I went to hang up the phone. I grabbed it, too,” Degua said.“That’s when he punched me.”He told the court that the confrontation became more aggressive when his turban was removed during the fight.“As I was bent over, he started saying, ‘I’ll do it. ” [expletive] “Wake up, I’m going to kill you,” Degua said.The defendant said he was afraid Nowak would take the kirpan, a ceremonial Sikh blade he wears in a sheath around his neck.“I thought I had to do something because I was afraid he would stab me with my kirpan,” he said.The court had previously heard the size of the blade was approximately 21 cm.Degoa said he never intended to stab the teen in the chest, and claimed he only tried to push him away. After becoming emotional in court, he added: “I’m sorry about what happened.”Earlier in the trial, jurors heard that the first-year University of Southampton student had consumed alcohol before the crash but was under the drink driving limit.Prosecutors said there was no confrontation. Nowak suffered five stab wounds or wounds and tried to escape by climbing over the fence after being injured.The court also heard that police officers initially handcuffed the teenager before realizing he had been fatally injured.Degois, of St Denis Road in Southampton, admitted he did not immediately tell officers he had stabbed Nowak because he was “scared”.His mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is also on trial charged with assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the scene. She denies the charge.
