The mother of Henry Nowak’s killer has been sent to prison after being found guilty of helping an offender on the night her son fatally attacked the teenager.
Kiran Kaur was sharply criticised by a judge, who said she had failed to behave as a “responsible parent” after hiding the knife used by her son, Vickrum Digwa, to stab the defenceless student.
Digwa, 23, was jailed for life last month for the murder of 18-year-old Mr Nowak, who died in police handcuffs following a night out in December last year after a chance encounter with his attacker.
Kaur was sentenced to three years in custody at Southampton Crown Court today, where the court was told she had played a “crucial role” in the events that followed the stabbing.
Passing sentence, 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.”
The court heard that Kaur “hampered the police” at the scene because officers were unable to locate the murder weapon, with its disappearance contributing to Mr Nowak “dying terrified, alone and disbelieved”.
Mr Nowak’s family had previously told the Daily Mail that Kaur had “done the right thing”.
Speaking from her home in Southampton, Digwa’s grandmother Bimla Kaur, 75, said: ‘I’ve been to see her in prison and she’s doing the best she can. She only did what any mother would have done, which is to protect her child. And now she’s going to be punished for this.’
Kiran was described as a ‘devout Sikh’ and housewife who never worked but instead focused on raising her children in a traditional Sikh household.
Kiran Kaur was found guilty of assisting an offender after her son Vickrum Digwa murdered student Henry Nowak with a dagger after a chance encounter last December
Vickrum Digwa murdered Mr Nowak then shamelessly sought to blame the unarmed student for what happened
Police bodycam footage showed Vickrum Digwa as he lied to police at the scene, insisting he was the victim
Bimla insisted that Digwa’s mother had done ‘a good job’ raising her sons but said that Vickrum had been ‘a difficult boy’ – appearing to blame the environment he grew up in for his troubled behaviour. She said: ‘Vickrum has always been a difficult boy but that’s not unusual for children who are born in Britain.’
Kaur and her son were convicted following a trial in May for their contrasting roles in what happened to Mr Nowak and the subsequent attempts to absolve Digwa of blame.
The court heard Mr Nowak was making his way home following a night out when he had a chance encounter with Digwa.
A brief scuffle ensued and Digwa removed his dagger from his sheath, which he carried in accordance with his Sikh faith, and plunged it 8cm (3.5in) into the victim’s chest.
Digwa further stabbed Mr Nowak twice to the leg, and once in the abdomen, while the victim also sustained a slash mark to his face.
Digwa, with brother Gurpreet arriving on the scene shortly after the attack, then filmed his victim as he attempted to get away from his attacker.
Digwa lied when police turned up a short time later, falsely claiming that Mr Nowak was the attacker, had punched and kicked Digwa, knocked his turban off, and had made a racist remark.
Hampshire Police officers then placed mortally wounded Mr Nowak into handcuffs, despite his desperate pleas – captured on police bodycam – that he could not breathe and had been stabbed.
One officer replied: ‘I don’t think you have, mate.’
He and a second officer are currently under investigation for potential gross misconduct.
Digwa’s mother, Kaur, and father, Moga Singh, had by now arrived at the scene, and Digwa secretly told his mother to take the dagger home. Mr Nowak died at the scene.
Digwa was later secretly recorded speaking in Punjabi to his older brother Gurpreet Digwa, in which the attacker agreed to pretend he had acted in self-defence even though he earlier confessed to his brother he had stabbed Mr Nowak.
He also told Gurpreet that if there were any cameras at the scene he would be unable to put forward self-defence.
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Sentencing Kaur, Judge Mousley KC said: ‘[Your sons] lied to police that Vickrum had been racially abused and assaulted.
‘By then you and your husband were at the scene.
‘Your son, Gurpreet, explained that no weapons had been involved or were present.
‘In fact, whilst he was talking to the call operator, Vickrum told you to take the murder weapon, sheath and belt away.
‘By then, you knew or believed that he had stabbed and injured Henry.
Henry Nowak was a finance student at the University of Southampton and was described by his family as ‘kind and talented’
Police bodycam footage shows the innocent 18-year-old being handcuffed as he lay dying
‘Even if you might have believed that your son had been racially abused and assaulted, you knew there could be no justification for him to have stabbed Henry.
‘Your son had no significant injury.’
The judge said Kaur acted ‘because you wanted him to avoid being caught’.
Judge Mousley KC continued: ‘You denied guilt while in police custody and continue to do so.’
The court heard Kaur was ‘embedded in your Sikh community but speak little English’ and had a number of health problems.
Prosecutor Nicholas Loddenberg KC told the court her offending was ‘criminality of the highest order’.
He said that her role was ‘crucial, in removing the murder weapon from the scene at a time when police were coming to the scene’.
Kelly Newman from the Crown Prosecution Service said after the sentencing hearing: ‘Those who seek to help murderers evade justice should be in no doubt that they too will be held accountable for their actions.’
Digwa was handed a life sentence in June this year with a minimum term of 21 years before being considered eligible for parole.
Judge Mousley told the defendant, who showed no emotion: ‘In addition to killing Henry, and the irreparable harm to those close to him, you have also caused real suffering to others who knew him.
‘You have brought shame upon your family, your community and your religion.
‘Your actions have stirred up racial tension in Southampton and across the country which have made many Sikhs worried about their own safety even though they have done absolutely nothing wrong.’
He described Mr Nowak, the first in his family to attend university, as a ‘much-loved, kind, hard-working and ambitious young man, devoted to his family and with a bright future’.
Sir Keir Starmer previously said he ‘felt sick’ watching footage of police handcuffing Mr Nowak as he lay dying, and that there are ‘serious questions’ to answer about the case.
The footage also prompted large protests in the streets.
Earlier this month, Digwa, older brother Gurpreet, and their father Singh all appeared in court charged with weapons offences.
Digwa denied owning weapons including two flick knives, an extendable baton, eight knuckle dusters, three machetes, a traditional Japanese weapon, three ninja swords and 37 other swords.
Gurpreet, 27, and Singh, 52, have also been charged with owning illegal weapons at their home in Southampton.
The alleged weapons offences took place on December 4, 2025, at the family’s home on St Denys Road in the Hampshire city.
They denied all charges and are due to go on trial in September next year.
