Mum of Henry Nowak killer Vickrum Digwa jailed for hiding murder weapon

The mother of Vickrum Digwa has received a three-year jail sentence after hiding the weapon used to kill Henry Nowak.

University student Henry was fatally stabbed by Digwa last December, with the 23-year-old falsely claiming he had acted in self-defence after being racially abused by the 18-year-old finance student.

Digwa was later found guilty of murder and carrying a knife in public, receiving a sentence of life with a minimum term of 21 years in prison.

Digwa's mother Kiran Kaur has now been jailed for assisting an offender on the night of the murder on 3 December 2025 by taking the weapon back to the nearby family home. The 53-year-old was found guilty by jurors who also convicted Digwa of murder and carrying a knife in public, following a trial in May.

Vickrum Digwa on the night of Henry's murder (Hampshire Police/PA Wire)

Sentencing Kaur, 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.

"This is because you wanted him to avoid being caught."

The judge went on to add that Kaur's actions that night had 'added' to Digwa's belief that he had 'done nothing wrong and that he was the victim'.

The court heard the knife was recovered after examination of CCTV, and determined by the police to be the murder weapon about a week after Henry was killed.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg KC had told the court her role was 'crucial' in removing the murder weapon at a time the police were coming to the scene. "The absence of [the] weapon at the scene caused by her actions hampered the police attending who were, as your Honour will recall, were confronted with a wall of lies," he said.

Henry Nowak had been handcuffed as he lay dying, due to Digwa lying about being racially abused (Family Handout/PA Wire)

"Absence of that weapon led to Henry dying terrified, alone and disbelieved, her actions contributed to this."

Harrowing police bodycam footage was later released from the night of Henry's death, showing the student telling officers: “I’ve been stabbed,” to which an officer replies: “Don’t think you have, mate.”

Henry's death would later lead to violent clashes across the city of Southampton in response to how attending officers dealt with the incident.