The mother of the man jailed for murdering 18-year-old student Henry Nowak could be deported from the United Kingdom after she completes her prison sentence, the Home Office has indicated.
Kiran Kaur, 53, was jailed in July 2026 for three years for assisting an offender, after she removed the knife her son Vickrum Digwa had used to murder Mr Nowak and put it in his bedroom.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We will always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity.”
Deportation “not known”
But it is not known whether Ms Kaur could actually face deportation, and her immigration status is unclear — meaning any prospect of removal remains unconfirmed even as the government sets out its general position on the removal of foreign criminals.
Under government policy, foreign nationals sentenced to 12 months or more in prison are generally considered for deportation. Ms Kaur received a three-year sentence, which places her within the scope of that policy.
If she held dual British nationality, the position would be more complicated: the Home Secretary would first have to seek to remove her British citizenship before deportation proceedings could begin.
The distinction matters. Ms Kaur’s conviction for assisting an offender is established fact. Whether she will ever face deportation is not.
Neither department would discuss Ms Kaur’s circumstances specifically, leaving open the question of whether deportation proceedings will ever be started in her case.
Deportation decisions are taken separately from criminal sentencing. Where a foreign national receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, the Home Office will generally consider whether removal is appropriate. Where the person also holds British citizenship, deprivation of that citizenship is a separate legal step that must come first.
“A responsible parent would have challenged their son”
Sentencing her in July, Judge William Mousley KC said a responsible parent would have challenged their son rather than concealing the weapon. He accepted that she had acted to protect her son rather than for any personal gain, but told her the offence was nevertheless a serious one. The judge’s remarks underlined the court’s view that loyalty to family could not excuse interference with a murder investigation.
Assisting an offender is the charge brought against those accused of helping someone evade justice after a crime, for example by hiding evidence or helping them avoid arrest. The court heard that Ms Kaur had taken the murder weapon and concealed it in her son’s bedroom.
Ms Kaur had spent 221 days on remand before she was sentenced. Under the early-release scheme in the Sentencing Act 2026, she could serve less than half of her three-year term. Release under the scheme is automatic and does not involve a parole decision.
ITV has reported that she could be freed close to 3 December — the anniversary of Mr Nowak’s death.
She is due to challenge the length of her sentence, rather than the conviction itself, at the Court of Appeal on 5 November.
Background
Her son, Vickrum Digwa, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years on 1 June 2026 for murdering Mr Nowak in Southampton in December 2025. Digwa had falsely claimed that Mr Nowak racially abused him.
The case has moved swiftly. Mr Nowak was killed in December 2025; Digwa was sentenced the following June; Ms Kaur was jailed a month later. Her appeal against the length of her sentence will be heard on 5 November, while reports suggest she could be released close to the anniversary of Mr Nowak’s death on 3 December.
The murder is among a number of serious cases to pass through the courts in London and the south-east, including the Earls Court murder conviction and a murder conviction in Croydon.
Both the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the individual case.
