A British court has imposed a three-year prison sentence on the mother of Vickrum Digwa for complicity, considering it proven that she tried to cover up for her son after the stabbing murder of British-Polish student Henry Nowak. Digwa, of Sikh religion, was previously sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing the young university student.
The Southampton Crown Court has found Kiran Kaur, 53, guilty of taking home the knife that her son used to fatally stab Nowak, 18, with the intention of protecting him and hindering the work of investigators.
"Digwa lied to the Police about Henry after committing the foolish act of violence and, immediately after, Kiran Kaur decided to help her son by taking away the murder weapon in a deliberate attempt to obstruct the investigation and conceal crucial evidence," said a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service, Kelly Newman, in a statement.
The agents located the Indo-Persian dagger used in the attack at the family home, linked to their beliefs as Sikhs although it was not a ceremonial kirpan, along with another 20 weapons. In June 2026, Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years behind bars for these events.
At the beginning of July, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced the opening of an investigation for possible gross negligence, after two officers handcuffed and detained Nowak while he lay on the ground seriously injured after receiving several stabs from Digwa.
British authorities made public recordings from the body camera of one of the police officers in which Nowak can be seen immobilized on the ground with handcuffs on, repeating up to nine times that he had been stabbed, while he was dying and other officers were conversing with the attacker, who claimed that the young man had directed racist insults at him.
The case sparked strong protests in Southampton and other cities in the UK, where at least 25 people were arrested for causing "violent public disorder." The mobilizations were amplified through social media, encouraged by messages from public figures such as billionaire Elon Musk or the leader of Reform UK, the far-right Nigel Farage.