The Home Secretary has said she will look “carefully” at religious exemptions to knife laws, after a young man was murdered with a Sikh weapon.
The National Secular Society is seeking clarification after Shabana Mahmood (pictured) said she “hadn’t taken any options off the table” in response to a question from ITV about potentially changing the law regarding knives worn for religious reasons.
Last year, Vickrum Digwa fatally stabbed 18-year-old student Henry Nowak using a large type of kirpan, a Sikh ceremonial dagger, which was viewed by Digwa as part of his faith.
This week, Digwa’s prison sentence was increased by four years to a minimum term of 25 years, with a judge ruling that the initial punishment was “unduly lenient”.
The NSS wrote to Mahmood in June urging her to review religious exemptions to knife laws in the wake of Nowak’s murder.
Mahmood highlights “recent practices of much bigger kirpans on display”
It is illegal in the UK to carry a knife with a bladed edge exceeding three inches in length. However, exemptions to the law mean that a larger blade can be carried if the owner has a “good reason” to do so, such as when the knife is required for use at work.
Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 lists “religious reasons” as one such justification for carrying a larger blade.
Some Sikhs choose to carry a kirpan hat has been made unusable as a weapon, for example by being blunted or welded into a sheath, demonstrating that religious observance need not involve carrying a functional knife.
But Digwa was carrying a sharp, 21cm long kirpan openly on the night of the murder. The Court of Appeal heard this was consistent with the practice of the Nihang order of Sikhs, of which Digwa was a member.
Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones called for a review of the religious exemptions to the law. She said: “If that knife was not legal on 3 December 2025, I am certain that Henry Nowak would still be alive today”.
In a statement, Nowak’s family said people “should not be able to walk openly through the streets of Britain carrying a 21cm blade”.
Mahmood told ITV she is “not going in with a fixed mind about what the right clarifications of the law might be”.
She said it is “important to get the right balance” on religious expression but do so “in a way that is within what we expect of our citizens for the purposes of the criminal law”.
She added: “The religious exemption has been long understood, but recent practices of much bigger kirpans on display is much different to how most Sikhs have practised this part of their religion, where usually it’s a much smaller blade and is discreetly worn”.
Last week, the Home Office published its terms of reference for its review into the murder of Nowak. But this review “will not consider reform of the law relating to the possession, use or sale of offensive weapons and bladed articles”.
The NSS is now seeking clarity on whether the law on knives will be reviewed.
NSS: Murder of Nowak “exposed the potential dangers of allowing religious privilege to override public safety”
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: “We welcome the Home Secretary’s willingness to consider tightening knife laws, including by reviewing the unjustifiable religious exemption.
“But this is a tentative commitment, and it is disappointing that the independent review into Henry Nowak’s murder explicitly excludes consideration of changes to knife legislation.
“The tragic murder of Henry Nowak exposed the dangers of allowing religious privilege to override public safety.
“Freedom of religion or belief is an important right, but it shouldn’t entitle people to carry potentially lethal weapons. Religious practices should only be accommodated when they don’t compromise public safety or impede the rights of others.
“The principle must be one law for all, regardless of religion or belief. We urge the Home Secretary to ensure the law itself is subject to a meaningful review.”