Hampshire PCC urges block on early release of Henry Nowak murderer's mother
Kiran Kaur, mother of Henry Nowak's murderer Vikram Digwa, is due to be freed in December under early release rules, but Hampshire's police commissioner wants the government to stop it and deportation is possible.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Kiran Kaur, the mother of Vikram Digwa, is expected to be released from prison in December under the government's early release scheme, around the first anniversary of Henry Nowak's death. Kaur was jailed for three years in July after being convicted of assisting an offender. She had taken an eight-inch knife from the murder scene and hidden it at home.
Henry Nowak was 18 and had just started at Southampton University when he was attacked on his way home from a night out last December. He was stabbed five times on a residential road. He was not drunk and was heading home for an early shift at a supermarket the next morning. Police treated him as a suspect in the moments after the attack. They did not believe him when he said he had been stabbed and could not breathe, and they arrested and handcuffed him as he lay dying. He died a few minutes later.
Vikram Digwa, then 23, initially claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack. The claim was found to be a lie in court. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years. Two police officers are being investigated for misconduct over the response to Henry Nowak.
Kaur's release has become a focus because she served more than 200 days, or seven months, on remand before sentencing. Under the early release rules, some prisoners can be freed after serving one third of their sentence, with the rest served in the community on a tag and supervision. Her time on remand means she could be eligible for release at around the one-third point, which falls in December. Reports say she will be out around the anniversary of Henry Nowak's death.
The police and crime commissioner for Hampshire has said Kaur should not be released early. The commissioner said she committed a really serious offence and should not be released from prison. The commissioner also said the public across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight would be shocked and urged the government to intervene under its early release scheme to stop her release in December. The scheme is intended to tackle prison overcrowding, after the Sentencing Act came into force this month.
Kaur is an Indian national and could face deportation. The Home Secretary must notify foreign nationals sentenced to more than one year that they are at risk of deportation. Kaur has been served with such a warning, according to legal affairs reporting. Government statements said it would always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity. If deportation cannot happen before the end of her custodial sentence, the government will consider detaining her under immigration powers to facilitate removal. No final decision has been taken. Deportation is a complex, case-by-case issue, especially because she has a settled family life and family in the UK, according to legal analysis.
Number 10 said it was limited in what it could say because of ongoing legal action. It repeated that the government would always try to deport foreign criminals as soon as it could. The case has also raised broader questions about the robustness of the criminal justice system and the impact of early release on victims. Henry Nowak's family will never see him again, while Kaur could be free around the anniversary of his death.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 3 channels | |||
| Kiran Kaur may be deported to India because she is a foreign national. | |||
| Kiran Kaur was sentenced to three years in prison for hiding the knife her son Vikram Digwa used in an attack in Southampton last December. | Reported by BBC One | ||
| The mother of Henry Nowak's killer is to be released early from prison. | |||
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| Vikram Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 21 years. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Reported by ITV | |
| Only on one channel | |||
| A police and crime commissioner said the early release raised serious questions about the robustness of the criminal justice system. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | |
| Number 10 said ongoing legal action limited what it could say about the case. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | |
| The early release scheme was reported to be causing pain for victims who felt they had been treated worse than perpetrators. | Not reported by Channel 5 | Not reported by BBC One | Reported by ITV |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV's evening bulletins led the story with an exclusive and a strong victim-focused framing. The first report stressed the injustice and outrage felt by Henry Nowak's family, while the later bulletin added the Hampshire police and crime commissioner's call for ministers to block Kaur's release and confirmed possible deportation.
- “The mother of the man who murdered student Henry Nowak is to be released early from prison. That's what ITV News can exclusively reveal.”
- “I think that injustice and that sense of outrage will be shared by lots of people tonight”
- “She committed a really serious offence. She should not be released from prison.”
The late bulletin recapped the case for viewers and explained the early release mechanics. It focused on the timing of Kaur's release near Christmas, the one-third rule, and the pain the scheme causes victims, with deportation to India raised as a possible next step.
- “the mother of his murderer will be able to visit her son potentially as soon as Christmas.”
- “you only have to serve one third of your sentence in some cases, so she will be out after one year.”
- “a sign of the early release scheme is really causing pain for victims who feel they've been treated less well, quite frankly, than the perpetrators.”
A short lunchtime item that treats the story as a reported development rather than an exclusive. It gives the basic sentence, early release and possible deportation facts, then moves quickly to other news.
- “It's being reported the mother of murderer Vikram Digwa could be in line for deportation”
- “she could serve less than half that sentence under the government's early release scheme”
BBC's coverage is led by its legal affairs correspondent and is the most process-focused. It explains remand time, the one-third release point, tagging and supervision, and the legal steps around deportation, while cautioning that removal would be a complex case-by-case decision.
- “she would then basically be eligible to be released at the one-third point of her prison sentence”
- “we understand that she has been served with a warning that she is at risk of deportation.”
- “that's a really case-by-case question for a judge to deal with.”
The lunchtime bulletin frames the case around the robustness of the criminal justice system and political accountability. It includes the police and crime commissioner's warning, Number 10's deportation line, and the detail that two officers are under investigation.
- “the early release from prison of the mother of student killer Vikram Digwar would raise very serious questions about the robustness of our criminal justice system.”
- “She may be released now under the terms of the new sentencing act, which came into force a couple of weeks ago”
- “we will always try to deport foreign criminals as soon as we can.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.