Kiran Kaur, 53, has been jailed for hiding the knife her son used to murder 18-year-old Henry Nowak. The mother-of-five moved the murder weapon from the scene in Southampton back to the family home, helping her son avoid detection.
Sentence and Judge's Remarks
Sentencing Kaur at Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley KC said: "A responsible parent would have challenged their son over their actions and encourage 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 her actions "added to your son's pretence that he had done nothing wrong and that he was the victim."
Details of the Crime
Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years on June 1 for the murder of Henry Nowak on December 3, 2025. Digwa falsely claimed the victim had racially abused him. The court heard that Kaur removed the knife from the scene as police were arriving, hampering the investigation. Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC said: "The absence of weapon at the scene caused by her actions hampered the police attending who were confronted with a wall of lies."
Defense Arguments
Barrister Mark Watson, defending Kaur, argued that she acted spontaneously after receiving a phone call that her son had been attacked. He said: "The weapon was not destroyed, it was not cleaned, it was not broken up and hidden." He described her as a pillar of her family and community, with a record of volunteer work, and urged the judge to impose a suspended sentence. Kaur, who appeared emotional in the dock with the help of a Punjabi interpreter, has spent over seven months in custody since her arrest.
