Kiran Kaur, mother of Henry Nowak’s killer, faces deportation risk from UK

The mother of Vickrum Digwa, who murdered student Henry Nowak, could be deported from the UK, the Home Office has signalled. Kiran Kaur, an Indian national, could also be freed early.

4 min readOct 16, 2026 10:15 AM IST First published on: Oct 16, 2026 at 10:15 AM IST

Vickrum Digwa's mother, Kiran Kaur, was jailed for three years in July for assisting an offender. (Photo: X/@RT_com)

Kiran Kaur, mother of Henry Nowak’s killer, faces deportation risk from the UK, BBC reported citing the Home Office. Kaur, 53, is an Indian national and could be eligible for the government’s deportation scheme. In July, she was jailed for three years for helping her son, Vickrum Digwa, after he murdered Nowak, an 18-year-old student. She had taken the knife he used from the crime scene.

ITV News said Kaur could serve less than half of her sentence and be freed around the anniversary of Nowak’s death. She spent several months on remand and is now appealing against her sentence. The Court of Appeal will hear the case on November 5. The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice would not comment on individual cases.

Why Kaur could face deportation

The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice did not comment on Kaur’s case, but said: “We will always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity.” The BBC said Kaur, as an Indian national, could be eligible for the deportation scheme.

The Home Office also said its thoughts remain with the family and friends of Nowak.

Kaur could be freed early

ITV News reported that Kaur could be freed under the government’s early release scheme after serving less than half of her sentence. That would put her release around the anniversary of Nowak’s death on December 3.

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Kaur is appealing against her three-year sentence. The Court of Appeal will hear her case on November 5.

What the judge said about Kaur

When he sentenced Kaur in July, Judge William Mousley KC said a responsible parent would have challenged their son and asked him to do the right thing, the BBC said.

The judge said Kaur took the knife home and put it in her son’s bedroom, among a larger collection of ceremonial and other weapons. He said this helped to hide what the knife had been used for, because she wanted her son to avoid being caught.

Mom of Henry Nowak’s killer to be released from prison EARLY — before even half of sentence served She removed knife from murder scene to HIDE her son Vickrum Digwa’s involvement As Indian national, she’s ‘eligible for govt’s DEPORTATION scheme’ https://t.co/usLb1HA1wJ

— RT (@RT_com) October 15, 2026

He accepted that Kaur was unlikely to offend again, and said she acted to protect her son, not for personal gain. He said that did not change the fact that her offence was serious, and that she needed to be punished and others deterred.

Police later found the knife at the family home, along with more than 20 other weapons. Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg said Kaur’s role in removing the knife was crucial.

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Digwa’s sentence and the early release scheme

Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 21 years on June 1 for murdering Nowak. He had falsely claimed that Nowak abused him racially in Southampton on December 3. Prosecutors said Digwa chased the unarmed teenager and stabbed him five times. The arrest and handcuffing of Nowak as he lay dying led to scrutiny of police actions.

About 5,000 prisoners are due to be released in stages over the next year, the BBC said. The figure was 6,000 before ministers moved to exclude rapists and the most serious child sex offenders from the scheme. Ministers say the expanded scheme is needed to stop the justice system from collapsing.

This week, about 650 prisoners were freed under the scheme, less than two weeks after 700 were released early.

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