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2 weeks ago
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Two teenagers have been found guilty at Leicester crown court of the manslaughter of Bhim Kohli after the 80-year-old was attacked in a park near Leicester in September.
A 15-year-old boy, who kicked, punched and racially abused the defenceless 80-year-old man while he was walking his dog in a park, has been found guilty of manslaughter.
A court heard that while Kohli was on his knees, the boy took off one of his slider shoes and slapped the elderly man in the face.
The incident was filmed by a 13-year-old girl, then 12, who could be heard laughing and was said to be encouraging the attack. A jury also found her guilty of manslaughter.
Leicester crown court heard that Kohli suffered a broken neck and three broken ribs in the assault that happened on his daily dog walk, metres from his home in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire. He died in hospital the following day.
He told a paramedic that the boy had racially abused him and that he had been pushed, punched and kicked.
Over the course of more than five weeks a jury heard differing accounts of what happened in the early evening of 1 September last year.
The prosecution said that the boy, masked in a balaclava, used “gratuitous” and “intense” violence before leaving Kohli for dead.
The jury was shown footage filmed by the girl of Kohli on his knees as the boy slapped him.
Harpreet Sandhu KC, prosecuting, told the jury: “You heard that slap, you heard the slider making contact with Mr Kohli’s face. There was nothing for [the boy] to fear from an 80-year-old man who was on his knees. It was pure violence used by [the boy], pure violence encouraged by [the girl].
“[The girl] made a noise. That noise was her laughing. She laughed as [the boy] assaulted Mr Kohli.”
Sandhu said the girl had prior knowledge of what was about to happen. He said: “She knew there would be violence and she had a desire to capture it – and capturing it provided encouragement for the violence to be meted out.”
The youth had no reason at all to hit Kohli, Sandhu said, adding that the boy’s actions had been “gratuitous violence against a man who was defenceless and a man who, because he was on the ground, was in a vulnerable position”.
He continued: “He was prepared to use violence when it wasn’t needed. His instinct when he first approached Bhim Kohli was to use violence. His instinct when he was angry was to use violence.”
The court heard that the defendants, who cannot be named because of their age, were part of a group of five children in the park that evening.
When they saw Kohli the girl told the group that the elderly man had tried to hit one of the boy’s friends with a stick.
Only the two defendants approached Kohli and the others ran away. One later told police they did so because they thought the boy was “either going to start on him or be mean”.
The pair later alleged that Kohli had threatened the girl with a knife, and this had triggered the violence. Sandhu said: “It was not in Kohli’s habit to carry a knife. No knife was recovered from the clothing he was wearing, and no knife was recovered from the park.”
Sandhu said the boy told a friend “he could not stop kicking” Kohli, and told another: “I’ve killed an 80-year-old man or put him in intensive care.” He was arrested the following day from his home where he was found hiding in a bush after telling his mother he was going on the run.
Jurors were read a letter the boy wrote while in custody in which he said he hated what he did.
He wrote: “I regret it so much. I have flashbacks of that day and it just upsets me.
“I just want my freedom or even to go back and not do it.
“I feel like my case is evil. I ain’t that type of person. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.”
He continued: “I feel like I have let my mum down so much. I am nervous, well scared and worried. I accept I did it and I am doing time. I am just scared about how long I have to do.”
The prosecution said at no point in the letter did the boy say he was acting in self-defence or in someone else’s defence. When told the letter would have to be disclosed, he responded: “That’s my manslaughter plea gone.”
The boy denied charges of murder and manslaughter. In a prepared statement he said that he thought Kohli was about to hit the girl, so he ran over and fell on top of him.
Kohli’s family said they were heartbroken by his death, describing him as a “loving, caring person whose life centred around his family”.
