London, Oct 16 A woman who was jailed for assisting her British Sikh son during a fatal stabbing in south-east England faces deportation to India, UK authorities indicated on Friday.
Kiran Kaur, 53, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in July for assisting an offender by removing the murder weapon used by Vickrum Digwa to kill Henry Nowak in Southampton last year.
While her son is serving a life sentence, his Indian national mother is now set for early release under a government scheme to ease pressure on the prison system.
“We will always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity,” the Home Office said, without referencing any specific case.
“Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Henry Nowak, whose life was cruelly cut short in a horrific act of violence,” it stated.
Foreign nationals jailed for 12 months or more are generally considered for deportation, although there are exceptions and an appeal can be made against such decisions.
Kaur has already lodged an appeal against her original sentence, and a hearing in that matter is scheduled at the UK Court of Appeal on November 5.
Her son also won his legal challenge and was granted permission to appeal against his lengthy life sentence; that hearing is also set for the same date next month.
Digwa stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak to death on December 3 last year.
In June, the 23-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.
The case triggered an uproar as the accused attempted to use a religious self-defence argument, claiming the weapon involved was a kirpan – a ceremonial knife Sikhs have a legal dispensation to carry in the UK.
“It is a fundamental principle of Sikhism that any kirpan is worn as a symbol of religious faith and is never to be carried for an offensive purpose,” said Justice William Mousley, while sentencing his mother for her role in assisting the attack.
“It is obvious that for use to be reasonable, any perceived threat justifying its use would only be in circumstances of great seriousness and urgency. You would have been fully aware of that.
“A responsible parent would have challenged their son over their actions and encouraged 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 sons’ bedroom,” he stated.
The judge referenced Kaur as having had a “hard life” in India, which improved when she was married and came to the UK nearly 30 years ago.
“Your actions were, mistakenly, to protect your son rather than for any personal gain, and you are very unlikely to re-offend,” he noted.
As the details of the crime emerged in court earlier this year, British Sikh groups and parliamentarians condemned misrepresentation of the kirpan and highlighted that “no religious protection or justification applied” in the case.
It caused community tensions in Southampton and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
Constabulary officers remain under an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation amid allegations of “two-tier” policing, where one community is prioritised over another.
It relates to footage of the victim’s final moments from a police body-worn camera that showed him being handcuffed by officers over Digwa’s allegations of racism, which were later debunked in court.
(PTI News)
