Teen jailed for killing grandad and girl, 12, who filmed attack avoids prison

Metro

2 days ago

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A 13-year-old girl who egged on her friend as he beat an 80-year-old man to death and laughed while filming it on her phone has avoided jail.
Bhim Kohli was attacked on September 1 last year while walking his dog Rocky in Franklin Park, not far from his home in Braunstone Town.
The grandfather was racially abused, and the girl filmed the boy inflicting 'gratuitous' and 'intense' violence against him, first with a slider and then with kicks and punches.
The teenagers, who cannot be named because of their ages, were convicted of manslaughter at Leicester Crown Court in April. The boy was cleared of murder.
He was today detained for seven years, while the girl was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order with a six-month curfew at the same court.
The judge, Mr Justice Turner, said the boy 'wanted to confront Mr Kohli' because he was 'showing off' to the girl knowing she would film the altercation.
He told the boy: 'I am sure you knocked Mr Kohli to the ground and then hit him to the head with your slider as he was on his knees trying to get up.
'I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing to deserve this. What you did was wicked.
'You made a cowardly and violent attack on an elderly man.'
He added to the girl he was sure she 'found this funny', adding: 'That is why you laughed while it happened.'
But he said that while she 'actively encouraged' the boy to carry on, she didn't expect him to use 'anything like' the level of violence he did when losing his temper.
Mr Kohli was forced to the ground during the attack, before the boy slapped him in the face with the slider. The boy was wearing a balaclava at the time of the assault.
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Bhim died in hospital the following day.
His daughter said the teenagers had 'humiliated' her father in an 'utterly disgusting' attack.
Susan Kohli said: 'Dad did not deserve this, and we wouldn't wish this pain on anyone else.
'One of the videos showed dad on his knees being hit over the head with the boy's slider (shoe). A loud horrible slapping sound is heard when the boy struck dad.
'Hearing the girl laugh at this assault on dad is utterly disgusting. This sound plays over and over in our heads.'
Describing the moments she found her father injured on the ground in the park just yards from the family home, Ms Kohli said: 'He was in so much pain, he was screaming out. It was horrendous and we have never seen him like this.
'We knew he was very poorly and in severe pain, but we thought he would go to Leicester Royal Infirmary and be fine. We never imagined he would never return home.
'We were later told the shocking news he was no longer able to take the medication that was keeping him alive.
'He passed away before our eyes, surrounded by his family who were in floods of tears and disbelief.
'Due to him being killed in these circumstances and being involved in a criminal investigation, dad was unable to donate his organs which were always his wishes. It pains me we were unable to meet his wishes.'
Mr Kohli's grandson Simranjit Kohli said he had been left wondering if his grandfather may have survived if he had got there sooner after he cried out for help.
'I was the first one out of my family at the scene. Not a day goes by when I think if I were minutes earlier I could have stopped what happened,' he said.
'There is, of course, sadness and sorrow, there's also hate, anger and rage.
'Everywhere I go I'm haunted by the thought I could be with him if things had happened differently that day.'
During the trial, jurors were told the boy wrote a letter to a support worker saying he hated what he had done and adding 'I feel like my case is evil'.
It read: 'I f****** hate what I did. 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.'
The letter went on to address the boy's view of his own mental health, the court heard, adding: '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.
'I get upset at little things and sometimes little things can affect my mood and my whole day. I actually feel like I f***** up everything by coming here. Life's f****** hard. I ain't depressed but I ain't really happy a lot of the time.
'I have always got shit on my mind. For now, I'm just f****** stressed and worried about court, like my plea.'
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski said he was in no doubt social media played a role in the attack. More Trending
'The proliferation and use of phones and social media messages features more and more in inquiries and certainly with young people who now live their lives via phones,' he told the BBC.
'The three videos on the phone showed this female defendant wanted to film violence and indeed encouraged it.
'And when we looked at her phone and examined it further, chillingly there were numerous previous incidents where she had filmed violence and was encouraging violence.
'The prosecution case was that was no coincidence, and that very much mirrored the attack on Mr Kohli.'
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