The mother of Henry Nowak’s killer is set to leave prison after serving just one-third of her sentence, under Labour’s controversial early-release policy. Kiran Kaur was jailed for helping remove the murder weapon from the scene.
Kaur, 53, is expected to be released in December as part of a programme designed to free as many as 50,000 prisoners a year.
She received a three-year sentence on July 17 after being convicted of assisting an offender—her son, Vickrum Digwa. Digwa fatally stabbed 18-year-old Mr Nowak in Southampton on December 3 last year using an eight-inch ceremonial dagger.
Her release would make Kaur one of the highest-profile offenders to benefit so far from Labour’s early-release scheme.
Kaur is understood to have spent roughly seven months on remand before being sentenced. That time is expected to make her eligible for release in December, after she has served one-third of her custodial term.
Digwa was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 21 years.
The Sikh defendant did not know his teenage victim. However, he told police at the scene that Mr Nowak had shouted racist abuse, punched him and knocked off his turban—claims that were false.
Kiran Kaur, 53, was convicted at Southampton Crown Court earlier this year of assisting an offender after removing the weapon used to murder Henry Nowak
Henry Nowak, 18, was killed in Southampton last December by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who falsely claimed his victim had racially abused him
The eight-inch Sikh kirpan ceremonial knife used by Digwa to murder Henry Nowak
Digwa, pictured, was convicted of murder and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years in June
Mr Nowak was arrested while lying in his own blood and later died alone in police custody.
After Digwa and Kaur were sentenced, the Crown Prosecution Service released footage showing the moment the murderer instructed his mother to remove the knife used in the attack.
The video, recorded on Digwa’s phone and aimed at the ground, captures him speaking to Kaur in Punjabi and asking her to take the weapon away.
A transcript published by the CPS shows Digwa telling his mother, “Take this”—words prosecutors said referred to the murder weapon.
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During Kaur’s sentencing at Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley said that when Digwa asked her to remove the knife, she “knew or believed that he had stabbed and injured Henry”.
The judge told Kaur that a responsible parent would have confronted her son about what he had done and encouraged him to do the right thing.
Instead, Kaur took the weapon home and placed it among a “larger collection of ceremonial and other weapons” in her son’s bedroom, Judge Mousley said.
He said hiding the knife helped conceal its use because Kaur wanted her son to “avoid being caught”.
The judge added that her actions supported Digwa’s false claim that he had done nothing wrong and was the victim. They also contributed to what he described as the “degradation of Henry being arrested when he was dying”.
Prosecuting barrister Nicholas Lobbenberg told the court that the weapon was not found by police until December 10 last year – seven days after the attack.
It remains unclear whether Kaur, an Indian national, will face deportation proceedings, according to ITV News, which first reported Kaur’s impending release.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Henry Nowak, whose life was cruelly cut short in a horrific act of violence.
‘We will always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity.’
Labour’s prison release scheme launched at the start of this month.
From November 10 it will be extended to offenders serving sentences up to three years and three months, meaning Kaur will become eligible.
Labour’s new programme is broader in scope than its previous release scheme, launched in 2024, which saw 70,000 criminals let out early in its first 19 months.
Despite being scheduled for early release, Kaur will appeal against her sentence at the Court of Appeal on November 5.
On the same day the court is due to consider an appeal by Digwa against his sentence, and also decide on a referral from the Attorney General which argued the sentence was too lenient. Digwa is also mounting a separate appeal against his conviction.
