Kiran Kaur, 53, has been sentenced to three years in prison for removing the knife used by her son Vickrum Digwa to murder 18-year-old student Henry Nowak in Southampton. The sentence was handed down at Southampton Crown Court after Kaur was found guilty of assisting an offender by taking the weapon from the murder scene on 3 December 2025 and bringing it to her family home.
Murder and false claims
Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years for stabbing Nowak five times. When police arrived, Digwa falsely claimed Nowak had racially abused him and knocked off his turban, leading officers to arrest and handcuff the student before discovering his fatal injuries. Kaur was convicted by the same jurors who found Digwa guilty of murder and carrying a knife in public, following a trial in May.
Sentencing Kaur, Judge William Mousley KC stated: “A responsible parent would have challenged their son over their actions and encouraged them to do the right thing. Instead, you took the knife home and put it with a larger collection of ceremonial and other weapons in your son’s bedroom. That would have helped to conceal what it had been used for.” He added that Kaur’s actions “added to your son’s pretence that he had done nothing wrong and that he was the victim.”
Impact on investigation
The court heard the knife was recovered after CCTV examination and identified as the murder weapon about a week after Nowak’s death. Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC said Kaur’s role was crucial in removing the weapon as police arrived. He stated: “The absence of a weapon at the scene caused by her actions hampered the police attending who were, as your Honour will recall, confronted with a wall of lies. She chose not to disclose what she had done. Absence of that weapon led to Henry dying terrified, alone and disbelieved. Her actions contributed to this.”
Defence lawyer Mark Watson described Kaur, a mother of five, as a pillar of her family and community with positive good character before the incident, including volunteer work. He urged the judge to impose a suspended sentence.
Consequences and aftermath
Kelly Newman of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Digwa lied to police about Henry after carrying out the senseless act of violence, and in the immediate aftermath Kiran Kaur chose to help her son by removing the murder weapon in a deliberate attempt to obstruct the investigation and hide crucial evidence. Those who seek to help murderers evade justice should be in no doubt that they too will be held accountable for their actions.”
During her mitigation, Kaur, aided by a Punjabi interpreter, dabbed her eyes with tissues. On the night of the attack, Digwa wore a small kirpan—a ceremonial sword or dagger worn by initiated Sikhs—under his clothing but also carried a larger knife he claimed was for religious reasons. Nowak, from Essex and studying finance at the University of Southampton, was stabbed five times while walking home after a night out with his football team.
The revelation that Nowak was handcuffed and falsely accused of racism sparked riots in Southampton, with at least 25 rioters charged with violent disorder. Hampshire Police have apologised for their actions, which drew global attention after criticism from X owner Elon Musk. The arrest is under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
