The Attorney General is 'looking closely' at the sentencing handed to Henry Nowak's killer, Justice Secretary David Lammy said on Sky News this morning (June 7).
Vickrum Digwa was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years on June 1 after being convicted by a jury of the murder of the 18-year-old student in Southampton last December.
The following day there was unrest in Southampton close to the spot where Henry was stabbed, with a total of 11 people subsequently charged by Hampshire Police with public order offences.
Lammy's Statement on Sentencing Review
This morning David Lammy told Sky News that Attorney General Lord Hermer is 'closely' looking at Digwa's sentencing, and considering whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal, PA has reported.
“In the end, what they (the killer) breached was Henry’s respect, the human dignity of life,” Mr Lammy said. “They then manipulated the situation by bringing race into the context, which was clearly a lie.
“Now clearly the court saw through that lie, and I think it’s really important to say my experience of the half a million or so Sikh community in this country is a peace-loving community, and that’s why they have moved very quickly to reject what we saw, the horrors of what we saw.
“I think it’s right that the AG also looks at this case closely, and whether he should be making a referral to the Court of Appeal. He is considering that as we speak.”
US Vice President's Comments and Lammy's Response
On Friday the US vice-president JD Vance took to X to say that Henry 'would still be alive' were it not for 'the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West'.
David Lammy said he spoke to JD Vance on Saturday to tell him “our democratic process is working well”, that he was “wrong” in his commentary about the murder, and that his post was “not helpful”.
“I spoke to the vice-president yesterday and I wanted to emphasise a number of things,” Mr Lammy said.
“The first is that our democratic process is working well. This young man has been convicted. There is an investigation into the police by the independent police complaints authority.
“There is an investigation into Hampshire Police by the inspectorate. The AG is looking at the sentencing in relation to this.
“The national police chiefs are looking at the guidance in relation to this. The second thing was I disagree with him.
“This has got nothing to do with mass migration. This young man was a Brit. Let’s be … clear about that, and it’s also the case that actually murder is coming down in the United Kingdom.
“So, we had an agreeable conversation, but we disagree.”
Asked whether he had given Mr Vance a ticking-off, he said: “We had an agreeable conversation because we have got a relationship, but I wanted to make him clear that I disagree with some of the facts that he was asserting and to present the facts to him.”
Mr Lammy said Mr Vance “has a longstanding concern about what he calls Western values, he actually was at pains to say, both in the United States and in here in Europe, which he believes are under attack”.
He added that they “disagree on that” and that they ended the conversation “very amicably, talked about when we’re next going to see each other.”
Mr Lammy added: “I also urged him that it’s not helpful to tweet in this way, partly because of what the Nowak family have asked for and reminded him about their desire not to make this an issue of division and hatred, but to make this an issue of common sense.”
