Murdered student Henry Nowak told police 'I can't breathe' while handcuffed

Under current legislation, practising Sikhs have a legal defence for wearing a small, curved blade, known as a kirpan, close to their body for religious purposes.

While Digwa had been wearing a traditional kirpan under his clothing, the weapon he used on Nowak was much bigger and he had worn it in a sheath on top of his clothes.

When he asked his mother Kiran Kaur to take it away from the murder scene, he described it as a "shastar", which is the Punjabi word for weapon.

Kaur is due to be sentenced for assisting an offender later this month.

The Sikh community has strongly condemned the killing and told the BBC worries about Digwa's behaviour in the past had prompted them to bar him from one of their places of worship in Southampton. It added this happened long before he murdered Nowak.

The Sikh Federation said the blade used by Digwa was not a kirpan, while the Sikh Press Association added plans were in process to ensure every initiated Sikh in the UK was addressed directly regarding kirpan rules and responsibility.

In a statement, Digwa's family said they were "deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the Nowak family has had to endure".

It continues: "We would give anything to turn back time so the path of both Henry and Vickrum never crossed that night. We cannot change what has happened, we just hope that no further pain is caused in its name."

The family added it "apologises to the Sikh community for our son's actions which have unfairly brought the community into disrepute" and asked that the "tragedy is not used to inflame division or hostility".