Mother of Henry Nowak Killer Could Be Deported
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Mother of Vickrum Digwa Killer Could Face Deportation
Image source: Hampshire Police
Image caption: Vickrum Digwa's mother Kiran Kaur was jailed for three years in July for assisting an offender
Published 33 minutes ago
The mother of murderer Vickrum Digwa could be deported from the UK, the Home Office has indicated.
Kiran Kaur, 53, was jailed for three years in July for removing the knife used by her son, Vickrum Digwa, to kill student Henry Nowak from the crime scene.
However, Kaur, who spent several months on remand, might serve less than half of her sentence and be released around the anniversary of Mr Nowak's death under the Government's early release scheme, ITV News reported.
The Home Office and Ministry of Justice declined to comment on individual cases, but stated: "We will always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity."
Kaur, an Indian national, could be eligible for the government's deportation scheme. She is also appealing against her sentence, with a hearing scheduled at the Court of Appeal on 5 November.
Her son Digwa was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years on 1 June for the murder of the 18-year-old student, after falsely claiming Mr Nowak had racially abused him in Southampton on 3 December.
Some 5,000 prisoners are scheduled to be released in stages over the next year, down from 6,000 after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and the most serious child sex offenders.
Ministers say the expanded early release scheme is necessary to prevent the justice system from collapsing, after a summer when the issue dominated news headlines.
Sentencing Kaur in July, Judge William Mousley KC told her: *"A responsible parent would have challenged their son" and asked their child to "do the right thing."
He continued: "You took the knife and put it at home with other weapons in your son's bedroom."
By hiding it among "a larger collection of ceremonial and other weapons", it would have helped to conceal its use because she wanted her son "to avoid being caught," the judge said.
He acknowledged that Kaur was unlikely to reoffend and said her motive was "mistakenly, to protect your son rather than for any personal gain."
He added: "However, the seriousness of your offending, requires you to be punished and others who might find themselves in a similar situation to be deterred from doing as you did."
Digwa gave the knife to his mother, and it was later found by police at their family home along with more than 20 other weapons.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lobbenberg described Kaur's actions as "criminality of the highest order" and her role as "crucial" when it came to removing the knife.