Police ‘could have stopped' pensioner's killers, family claims

Telegraph

3 days ago

Police could have prevented the killing of an elderly dog-walker, had they acted sooner in response to a similar attack just weeks earlier, his daughter has claimed.
Bhim Kohli, 80, was punched and kicked, slapped in the face with a shoe and racially abused in an attack in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on Sept 1 last year, and died the next day.
A boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of his manslaughter and sentenced to seven years' custody in June, when he was aged 15, while a 13-year-old girl, who encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, was also convicted.
Mr Kohli's daughter, Susan Kohli, said a report she has been given showed Leicestershire Police knew the identities of two different teenagers involved in another attack on an Asian man, who was racially abused and assaulted in the same park around two weeks beforehand.
But she told the BBC that officers 'sat' on the information and did not arrest the boys until after her father's death.
Ms Kohli called for the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), to look again at Leicestershire Police's actions, saying that, without the delays, there was a chance her father 'would still be here'.
She told the broadcaster: 'You (the police) sat on it for over two weeks and didn't do anything – it could have sent a message around to the estate.
'When you have either police presence, or you take action, or have firm words with children that are from the estate, from the same school, word gets around.
'Word would have got around to say, 'you know what? We might need to be cautious about being around this area'.'
The BBC was also told that police had received reports Mr Kohli had been subject to abuse on previous occasions.
Mr Kohli had intervened in the earlier attack on Aug 17 last year, during which a man was targeted by two white boys aged 12 and 13, who threw a large rock at him and used racial slurs against him.
The report detailing the investigation, seen by the BBC, revealed a further eight reports of similar incidents, between June and August last year, have been made to the police since Mr Kohli's death.
The police conducted an investigation reviewed by the IOPC following Mr Kohli's death over the case and the force's previous contact with Mr Kohli.
The force said the probe 'found that there was no misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented Mr Kohli's death'.
But the report identified an 'organisational learning' in relation to logging and tagging incidents of anti-social behaviour.
Chief Superintendent Jonathan Starbuck, of Leicestershire Police, told the BBC the force recognised the concerns raised by Ms Kohli regarding anti-social behaviour in the Franklin Park area during the summer of 2024.
He added: 'We continue to monitor the area of Franklin Park and have engaged with the community through a local survey, drop-in centres, engagement with local schools, youth work and proactive policing patrols.'
A spokesman for the IOPC said it had reviewed Leicestershire Police's report into the investigation.
They said: 'We agreed with their finding that police officers did proactively investigate matters reported to them and there was nothing to indicate any officers or police staff committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying disciplinary proceedings.
'And we agreed with learning identified by the force in respect of accurately recording and tagging incidents of anti-social behaviour, thus ensuring incidents can be dealt with appropriately and to support the long-term management and deterrence of ASB.'