Henry Nowak’s killer is refusing to come out of his cell amid fears that he will be attacked as child killer Ian Huntley was. Vickrum Digwa is currently being held in HMP Frankland following his conviction for the murder.
HMP Frankland is the prison where Huntley, who killed schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, was murdered by a fellow inmate. According to sources inside the jail, Digwa has been left cowering in his cell and is refusing to integrate with inmates. A source told the Sun: “He is there because he is terrified and refused to locate to a wing.
“He was told he was going on to A-wing and he knew it was where Huntley was killed — and said ‘No’.
“He said he could not be kept safely on there, which is accurate as there is already talk about him around the prison.
“They cannot make him go on to the wing and he could be in ‘seg’ for a very long time.”
Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years on June 1 for the murder of Mr Nowak, 18, in Southampton, after falsely claiming Mr Nowak had racially abused him.
Anger erupted after a three-minute police body-worn video was released showing Mr Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, being placed in handcuffs moments before he became unconscious and subsequently died.
New footage has been released during which Digwa tells officers at the scene what were described in court as “wicked lies” about Mr Nowak, including saying he was drunk and had racially attacked him.
He also denies any knowledge when asked about a wound suffered by Mr Nowak.
In the footage, Digwa tells the officer: “I was literally just walking in and I’ve seen her. He’s then barged into me. I kinda said to him, ‘Clearly, you’re drunk’. I could smell, like you can smell the alcohol.”
He continues to say that Mr Nowak called him a racial slur before saying to Digwa that he was a “bad man” and Digwa responding “Yeah, I’m a bad man” as Mr Nowak started recording him.
He continues: “Obviously, then I just push him away, he’s then grabbed me, then started grabbing my turban and pulled my hair, started grabbing my hair, he was, like, punching me and all that sort of stuff.”
After Digwa is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, he tells the officer: “I have been racially attacked.”