BBC News, Leicester
BBC News, East Midlands
SuppliedA 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl have been sentenced for killing an 80-year-old man out walking his dog in a park.
Bhim Kohli died the day after he was assaulted in Franklin Park, yards from his home in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, on 1 September last year.
The boy, who racially abused Mr Kohli before slapping him in the face with a slider shoe, was sentenced to seven years in custody at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday.
The girl, who encouraged the assault and laughed as she filmed it on her phone, was given a youth rehabilitation order of three years and made subject to a six-month curfew. Both were convicted of manslaughter.
During the hearing, prosecutor Harpreet Sandu KC said Mr Kohli was subjected to a “seven-and-a-half minute period of continuing aggression” while taking his dog Rocky for a walk.
The attack left Mr Kohli with three broken ribs and other fractures, but Mr Sandhu KC said the fatal injury was to his spinal cord, caused by a spine fracture.
Mr Kohli’s children found him at the park “screaming out” in pain after the attack.
Mr Kohli’s daughter, Susan Kohli, told the court he was a “devoted life partner” to his wife Satinder for 55 years.
Taking to the witness box to read her victim impact statement out to the court, she said: “We feel nothing but anger and disgust towards the boy and the girl.
“The girl disgustingly videoed dad as he lay on his side after the attack.
“Dad passed away before our eyes surrounded by his family who all had tears in their eyes.”
Ms Kohli added she and her mother were always “looking over our shoulders when taking Rocky for a walk after what happened to dad”.
Before passing sentence, Mr Justice Turner told the boy he did not find he attacked Mr Kohli due to his race, even though the court heard he used racist language.
“You made a cowardly attack on an elderly man,” he added.
Mr Justice Turner said he was sure the boy wanted to “confront” Mr Kohli in order to impress the girl as she filmed what happened.
He said the boy approached Mr Kohli while wearing a balaclava, adding the elderly man had done nothing to deserve the attack that followed.
Addressing the girl, he told her she “did not play a leading role” but it was not a minor part either.
Speaking on the steps outside court after sentencing, Ms Kohli said: “The death of my dad has left a hole in our family.
“A hole that can never be filled because of the actions of two teenagers.
“I believe that on that day the two teenagers made a choice; the boy chose to attack my dad and the girl chose to film my dad’s attack.
“I feel angry and disappointed by the sentenced passed as it does not reflect the severity.”
She added that, after the boy and girl have served their sentences, “they still have life ahead of them”.
The BBC was told it was reported to police that in July, Mr Kohli had stones thrown at him and was spat at by a group of children after he told them to get off his neighbour’s garage roof.
And the following month, Mr Kohli had spoke after he saw two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abuse a man and throw a large rock at him near the same park where he encountered his own attackers.
A witness to the August attack, Linda Haigh, said she warned police about racially motivated problems in the area before Mr Kohli died, and believes he would still be alive had they taken her more seriously.
An investigation conducted by Leicestershire Police, reviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, did not identify any “misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented Mr Kohli’s death”.
Ch Supt Jonathan Starbuck said: “Prior to Mr Kohli’s death, police were aware of two reports of anti-social behaviour involving youths in the Franklin Park area which were being investigated.
“Partnership work in the area following Mr Kohli’s death did identify further incidents which had not been reported.”
He added that “organisational learning” to improve logging anti-social behaviour had been identified.
Kelly Matthews, senior district crown prosecutor for the CPS in the East Midlands, said it was “not often that we see individuals so young in court charged with violent offences”.
“The girl was the catalyst for this attack taking place,” Ms Matthews said, when asked why the female defendant had also been found guilty of manslaughter.
“If it wasn’t for her, then events may have unfolded differently on that day.
“She pointed out Mr Kohli to the boy. She approached Mr Kohli with the boy. When the boy started attacking Mr Kohli, she took out her phone and started filming the incident and laughing, encouraging him.”
Ms Matthews said “some very young witnesses” gave key evidence about what happened before and after the attack, “specifically of the two defendants bragging about what had happened”.
