An Indian-origin mother and son have been sentenced to a total of just under four years of imprisonment after conspiring to steal a large sum of money collected by the local Sikh community in south-east England to pay for a wedding.

Kalwant Kaur, 41, and her son, Jung Singh Lankanpal, 22, of the same address in Southampton, Hampshire, were charged with conspiring to commit a burglary, which they both pleaded guilty to back in October.

Appearing on Friday at Southampton Crown Court for sentencing, Kaur was jailed for 15 months and Lankanpal handed a 30-month jail term.

“Kaur and Lankanpal made a cold and callous decision to steal such a large sum of money from people they knew, money which was meant to help people in their community,” said Detective Constable Jess Swift, from the Western Area Crime Team of Hampshire Constabulary.

“Despite Kaur trying to present herself as a witness to a crime, it was quickly established she had used her knowledge to help orchestrate this burglary. Through some very comprehensive enquiries, we have been able to ensure both pleaded guilty to these offences and will serve a jail sentence. I hope this provides the local community some reassurance and gives them some justice for what happened,” she said.

The money, around GBP 8,000, was taken from an address in Clovelly Road, Southampton, on September 15.

A court heard a group of women from the local Sikh community had helped organise a collection to pay for a wedding within the community and were counting up the money.

 However, entry was forced to the address, where a man with a gun threatened those inside and demanded they hand over the money.

Southampton Crown Court heard a vehicle, used to get away from the scene, a red Hyundai, was found to be registered to one of the women who was helping with the collection and turned out to be Kalwant Kaur.