Two children used racist language during fatal attack on 80-year-old man, court told

The Guardian

25-02-2025

Two children used racist taunts during a fatal attack on an 80-year-old man in which he was slapped in the face with a shoe while kneeling on the ground, a court has heard.
Bhim Kohli died on 2 September last year, the day after he was allegedly assaulted by a balaclava-clad 14-year-old boy in Franklin Park, in the Braunstone Town area of Leicester, while walking his dog near his home.
The boy, now 15, is accused of repeatedly hitting and kicking Kohli, including taking off one of his shoes and using it to hit Kohli while he was on the ground, and is on trial for murder and manslaughter.
A 13-year-old girl, who was 12 at the time, is alleged to have encouraged the violence, which she partly recorded on her phone while laughing, and has been charged with manslaughter.
Neither defendant can be named due to their age, and both deny the charges.
After the incident, Kohli was said to have told his daughter than he had been 'punched in the face and they kicked me', and said that he had been called the P-word.
He was taken to hospital for treatment but died the following day from a neck injury that had caused trauma to his spinal cord. He also had fractured ribs and bruising.
The trial at Leicester crown court heard the two defendants were part of a group of five teenagers who encountered Kohli in the park on 1 September.
The girl standing trial had allegedly pointed out Kohli to the group and accused him of previously trying to hit one of the boy's friends with a stick.
It is alleged that three of the teenagers ran off, but the boy – wearing a balaclava – accosted Kohli, pushed him and then attacked him while he was kneeling on the ground. The teenage girl stayed and recorded parts of the attack on her phone, with the footage showing the boy using a black slider sandal he had removed from his foot to slap Kohli in the face while she laughed.
'When [Kohli] was on his knees, he was not in a position to threaten anyone. There was nothing for [the boy] to fear from an 80-year-old man who was on his knees. It was just pure violence,' said Harpreet Sandhu KC, for the prosecution.
'They used racist taunts towards Kohli. [The boy] did not just push Mr Kohli over, but he subjected him to an intense attack.'
Shortly afterwards, Kohli tried to make a phone call to his grandson for help, but was unable to get a hold of him. He was next filmed walking towards the exit of the park and shouting, and then filmed lying on the ground.
The court heard that a CCTV camera recorded the boy saying that Kohli had 'whacked his head off a log', while the girl could be heard saying: 'I know, I saw that. It goes doosh'.
One witness, who saw the pair walking away from the park, said he heard the boy say they had 'beaten up some guy' and there was 'a dead guy on the floor'. Other witnesses in the park said they heard the pair 'bragging', including hearing the girl say she had slapped Kohli.
The pair later alleged that Kohli had threatened the girl with a knife, and this had triggered the violence. '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.
Sandhu said the boy later 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 address where he was found hiding in a bush after telling his mother he was going on the run.
The trial continues.