A 23-year-old Sikh man accused of stabbing a university student to death in Southampton has told a court he believed the teenager was going to attack him with a ceremonial knife during a violent street fight. Southampton Crown Court heard that 18-year-old Henry Nowak, from Chafford Bridge, Essex, died after an altercation on December 3 last year as he returned to his home after a night out on Belmont Road, the BBC reported.Vikrum Digwa denies murder and carries a knife in public.Digwa told jurors the incident happened around 11.30pm when the two passed each other on the pavement as he walked to collect curry chips from a nearby car.“It looked to me like he was drunk,” the defendant said.“He broke into me. I thought he did it on purpose.”Digvar said Novak then turned back to him and told him: “You could have moved up a little bit.”The dispute escalated after the teenager allegedly used a racial slur and said: “Do you think you’re a bad person? I’m from Essex. You don’t know what people in Essex are watching,” the court heard.Jurors were shown cellphone footage after Nowak allegedly began filming the defendant.“I went and blocked the call. I caught it, too,” Digwa said.“That’s when he hit me.”He told the court the confrontation became more intense when his hood was ripped off during the fight.“As I bent over, he started saying, ‘I’m going to [expletive] You stand up, I’m going to kill you. “Digwa said.The defendant said he feared Nowak would take his kirpan, a Sikh ceremonial blade carried in a sheath around his neck.“I thought I had to do something because I was worried he was going to stab me with my own kpan,” he said.The court previously heard the blade was approximately 21cm long.Digueva said he never intended to stab the teen in the chest and claimed he was just trying to push him away. He became emotional in court, adding: “I’m sorry this happened.”Earlier in the trial, jurors heard the first-year student at the University of Southampton had been drinking before the incident but fell under the drink-driving limit.Prosecutors said the confrontation was not witnessed. Nowak suffered five stab wounds or cuts and attempted to escape by climbing over a fence.The court also heard officers initially handcuffed the teenager before realizing he had suffered fatal injuries.Digwa, of St Denis Road, Southampton, admitted he did not immediately tell police he stabbed Nowak because he was “scared”.His mother Kiran Kaur, 53, is also on trial accused of assisting an offender in removing the weapon from the scene. She denies the allegation.
