Kiran Kaur, a 53-year-old mother from Southampton, has been jailed for helping her son conceal the knife he used to murder 18-year-old Henry Nowak. The judge described her actions as those of a parent who prioritised protecting her son over justice.
Sentencing and Guilty Verdict
Kaur was found guilty by a jury at a trial in May, alongside her son Vickrum Digwa, who was convicted of murder and carrying a knife in public. Digwa, 23, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years on June 1 for the murder of the finance student on December 3, 2025. He had falsely claimed that Nowak racially abused him.
At Kaur's sentencing, Judge William Mousley KC stated: "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. This is because you wanted him to avoid being caught."
Role in the Crime
The court heard that Kaur moved the murder weapon from the scene on Belmont Road to her family home, where it was later recovered by police. Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC described her role as "crucial" in removing the knife at a time when police were arriving at the scene. He said: "The absence of 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."
The knife was identified as the murder weapon about a week after Nowak's death, following examination of CCTV footage.
Defence Arguments
Barrister Mark Watson, defending Kaur, argued that she became involved only after receiving a phone call that her son had been attacked, as she was preparing for bed. He said Kaur was "equally misled" by Digwa, who lied to those around him about what happened. Watson described her actions as "spontaneous" rather than calculated, noting that the weapon was not destroyed, cleaned, or broken up. The knife remained in its sheath, he added.
"Offending arose during a moment of panic and human frailty, the court may think," Watson said. He highlighted that Kaur, a mother of five, was 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.
Courtroom Reaction
Kaur, who was aided by a Punjabi interpreter, appeared emotional in the dock, drying her eyes with tissues during the mitigation. She has spent more than seven months in custody since her arrest.
