The mother of the man who murdered Henry Nowak could be released from prison early as part of the government’s plan to tackle overcrowding in jails.

Kiran Kaur, 53, was jailed for three years in July for removing the knife her son, Vickrum Digwa, used to kill the 18-year-old student in Southampton in December.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones said Kaur’s early release would be “a significant blow for Henry’s family”.

Under the Sentencing Act 2026, which came into force on 1 October, most prisoners serving fixed-term sentences of up to two and a half years are automatically released on licence after serving a third of the time, rather than half.

Kaur, who is appealing against her sentence, would serve the rest of it in the community on licence, and could be recalled to prison if she breached her licence conditions.

She spent 221 days on remand, which the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said was taken into account when she was sentenced.

Her crime of assisting an offender is not one of the offences excluded from changes to the early release scheme.

Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “She wasn’t even sentenced until July this year, which was just three months ago, and here we are now talking about her potential release.”

She said she would write to Justice Secretary Alex Norris asking for “clarity” so she could continue supporting the family.

The MoJ said offenders released on licence faced tougher controls, including:

It is not known whether Kaur could face deportation, as her immigration status is unclear.

The government, which does not comment on individual cases, said it would “always seek to deport foreign criminals at the first opportunity”.

Foreign nationals jailed for 12 months or more are generally considered for deportation, although there are exceptions and decisions can be appealed.

If Kaur holds dual British nationality, the home secretary would first have to try to remove her British citizenship before she could be deported.

Kaur’s appeal against her sentence is due to be heard at the Court of Appeal on 5 November.

Her son, Digwa, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years on 1 June for the murder of Nowak, after falsely claiming the student had racially abused him.

Digwa has been given permission to challenge the length of that sentence at the Court of Appeal on 5 November.

A government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Henry Nowak, whose life was cruelly cut short in a horrific act of violence.”

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 putting it among “a larger collection of ceremonial and other weapons” it would have “helped to conceal what it had been used for” because she wanted him “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.