Teenagers guilty of ‘brutally’ killing dog-walking pensioner in park

A 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl have been convicted of “brutally” killing an elderly dog walker who was filmed being slapped in the face with a shoe while on his knees before his death.

Bhim Kohli, 80, called out for help while walking his dog Rocky just yards away from his home before he suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs by being kicked and punched by the balaclava-clad boy.

Mr Kohli had been racially abused, laughed at by the girl, and left on the ground before his children found him severely injured in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on the evening of September 1 last year. He died in hospital the next day.

The teenagers, who cannot be named because of their ages, were unanimously convicted of manslaughter at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday.

The boy was cleared of murder by the jury.

Speaking outside the court after the verdicts were returned, Mr Kohli’s daughter, Susan Kohli, said her father was “brutally and cruelly” taken from his family.

She said: “We feel angry and disgust towards the teenagers who took dad away from us. They humiliated him, an 80-year-old man, assaulted him, filmed it and laughed at him.”

“Dad did not deserve this and wouldn’t wish this on anyone else.

“He was the person who knitted our family together and we miss him every second of every day. Our home feels so empty without him and will never be the same.”

In a letter written by the boy two months after the attack, he claimed to be suffering flashbacks, and said “I feel like my case is evil”.

He also wrote in the letter “I accept I did it and I am doing time” and “I kinda just needed anger etc releasing”.

The girl filmed a series of video clips in which Mr Kohli was slapped with the shoe by the masked boy, another where the man was walking towards the exit of the park calling for help, and the grandfather lying motionless on the ground.

The 13-year-old girl took a photograph of Mr Kohli on her phone the week before the alleged incident but denied that she used this to “target” him.

Police also recovered a video from her phone of a group of children “confronting” an unknown man on a separate occasion, who was hit to the back of the head and called a “P*** bastard” while she was heard laughing.

The boy told the jury he slapped Mr Kohli with his shoe out of “instinct” after they had a tussle, which caused the elderly man to fall to his knees.

He admitted to pushing Mr Kohli over to “defend” the girl, who claimed Mr Kohli came towards her with his arms raised in a “slapping motion”, but denied kicking or punching him.

In the prosecution’s closing speech, Harpreet Sandhu KC called the boy’s actions “gratuitous violence against a man who was defenceless”.

After the verdicts were read out, Mr Justice Turner further remanded the 15-year-old boy in custody and granted the 13-year-old girl conditional bail.

He thanked the jury for their “obvious hard work” and adjourned sentencing to a two-day hearing on May 19 and 20.

Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski, of Leicestershire Police, said Mr Kohli was a “much-loved grandfather” who was “enjoying the simple things in life” such as spending time with his family, tending to his allotment and walking his dog.

He said: “Clearly the fatal attack of an elderly man in a public park close to his home address by children has shocked the community and the family to the core. This should never have happened.

“Mr Kohli was a true family man. He was the centre of his family – a very beloved husband.

“His family have been absolutely devastated by his loss. He was in the last stage of his life, but very fit and healthy and had a long life ahead of him still.

“It’s a no-win situation and it should never have happened.”