Woman jailed for hiding knife used in Henry Nowak murder

Kiran Kaur’s jail term turns the focus from the killer to the people who try to bury the truth after a murder. Her attempt to hide the knife used to kill Henry Nowak was not a side issue in the case in Southampton, but an act that struck at the evidence police needed to prove how the 18-year-old died.

Henry Nowak was stabbed to death on 3 December 2025 while walking home after a night out with friends. Vickrum Digwa, 23, was later jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years after being convicted of murder. Court evidence said Digwa used a 21cm, or 8in, blade and falsely told police that Henry had racially abused him and that he had acted in self-defence. Digwa also claimed he carried the blade as part of his Sikh faith.

The handling of the knife matters because it sits at the centre of the prosecution story and the public reaction to the case. Removing or concealing a weapon after a murder can delay forensic work, obstruct investigators and compound the trauma for a victim’s family, who are forced to relive the killing while also seeing efforts made to erase the facts. In Henry’s case, the court record showed a wider pattern of damage control around the killing, not a single isolated act.

Henry’s final moments also fuelled outrage. He repeatedly told officers at the scene that he had been stabbed, and bodycam footage later showed him pleading “I can’t breathe” while handcuffed as he lay dying. Police released the footage and CCTV with the permission of Henry’s family, which brought fresh scrutiny to how officers treated him at the scene.

Digwa’s own words undercut his later denial. Within 36 hours of the murder, he was recorded in the back of a police van admitting to his brother Gurpreet that he had stabbed Henry multiple times. His Honour Judge William Mousley KC described Henry as a much-loved, kind, hard-working and ambitious young man. The judge also said Henry was a first-year student at Southampton University and the first in his family to go to university.

The case drew national attention and prompted a statement from the Home Secretary to Parliament. Digwa’s sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, while the focus on Kaur’s role has reinforced how seriously courts treat anyone who interferes with murder investigations, especially when the object hidden is the weapon itself.