Latest news with #JusticeTurner
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Telegraph
Girl who filmed killing of pensioner is spared jail
The family of an 80-year-old dog walker has said the sentences handed to his teenage killers 'do not reflect the severity of the crime', after a 13-year-old girl convicted of the attack walked free from court. Bhim Kohli was fatally attacked by a 15-year-old boy as racist abuse was shouted at him, while the girl filmed the killing on her mobile phone. At Leicester Crown Court on Thursday, the boy was ordered to serve seven years in prison while the girl was handed a three-month rehabilitation order. The sentences stand in contrast to that of Lucy Connolly, a childminder married to a Conservative councillor, who received a 31-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred with a tweet posted in the wake of the Southport murders. The girl had filmed a series of video clips in which Mr Kohli was slapped with the shoe by the masked boy and another where the pensioner lay motionless on the ground, the court previously heard. Mr Justice Turner said it had been a 'cowardly and violent attack' on an elderly man, who did ' nothing to deserve ' what happened to him. Mr Kohli's daughter, Susan, called for the parents of the killers to face court themselves after the sentences were handed down. She said: 'The parents have a part to play in it because, from what we heard in court, the children were out at crazy times. They were on the phones at gone midnight. These are children of the age of 12 and 14 [at the time of the killing]. 'How can a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old do something like this to an old-age pensioner? Do they not think, what if this happened to their parents, their grandparents? It is adults taking responsibility. Hold the parents accountable. Then bring them to court as well.' A six-week trial heard that Mr Kohli called out for help while walking his dog Rocky when he was assaulted by the balaclava-clad boy, while the girl laughed and filmed at Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester on Sept 1 last year. Both children denied their part in the grandfather's death but were convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the same court in April. The boy was cleared of Mr Kohli's murder. The public gallery was packed with members of Mr Kohli's family for the day-long sentencing hearing. Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC said there was 'deliberate humiliation' of Mr Kohli during the attack, which came against a backdrop of 'bullying and antagonising' of the pensioner by other local youths. Mr Kohli's children found him lying on the ground in agony when he told his daughter that he had been called a 'P---' during the attack. In a victim impact statement, Mr Kohli's daughter, said: 'He was in so much pain, he was screaming out. It was horrendous and we have never seen him like this.' She said the family had been left 'broken' by what had happened to her father, adding: 'They left my dad on his own, helpless and in pain.' 'Haunted' relatives Simranjit Kohli, Mr Kohli's grandson, said in a statement read by Mr Sandhu that he was 'haunted' by his grandfather's death. '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.' Mr Justice Turner said the attack had been 'wicked', and that evidence that suggested Mr Kohli told his daughter he was called a 'P---' during the attack was right, but that evidence from their mobile phones did not show they held 'general racist views'. He said: 'It was a lazy but very hurtful insult.' Addressing the boy, who was 14 at the time of the attack, the judge added: 'I'm sure you regret that he died because of what you did to Mr Kohli, but you still say it wasn't your fault. 'It was your fault and the sooner you realise this, the better.' Reasons for sentences He accepted that while the girl, who was 12 at the time of the attack, had encouraged the boy's behaviour, she did not know he would use 'anything like the level of violence he did'. Giving his reasons for the sentences, the judge said the girl had not played a 'leading role' in the killing, and did 'not hurt Kohli directly'. He said there were a number of mitigating factors, including no previous convictions and a troubled upbringing, and that a short custodial sentence would do more harm than good. Alongside the youth rehabilitation order, she will also be under an electronically monitored curfew for six months. The judge 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 said. Ms Kohli, speaking after the sentencing of her father's teenage killers, said she is 'angry and disappointed' that their sentence does not reflect the severity of the crime. Ms Kohli said: 'I believe on that day the two teenagers made a choice. The teenage boy chose to attack my dad and the girl chose to film him being attacked. They knew what they were doing. 'I feel angry and disappointed that the sentence they have both received today does not, I believe, reflect the severity of the crime they committed. 'However, I understand the judge has guidelines, but they have taken a life, and, as a result, our lives have been changed forever. 'When they are released, they still have their full lives ahead of them. They can rebuild their lives. We can't.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
Teenagers sentenced for killing elderly dog walker in park attack
Two teenagers have been sentenced for killing an 80-year-old dog walker who was racially abused, punched, kicked, and slapped in the face with a shoe while on his knees in a brutal park attack. A 15-year-old boy was ordered to serve seven years' detention and a 13-year-old girl was handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order by a High Court judge at Leicester Crown Court for the manslaughter of Bhim Kohli, who suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs just yards from his home. The girl had filmed a series of video clips in which Mr Kohli was slapped with the shoe by the masked boy and another where the 80-year-old lay motionless on the ground, the court previously heard. Mr Justice Turner said it had been a 'cowardly and violent attack' on an elderly man who did 'nothing to deserve' what happened to him. A six-week trial heard that Mr Kohli called out for help while walking his dog Rocky when he was assaulted by the balaclava-clad boy while the girl laughed and filmed parts of the attack on her phone in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester on September 1 last year. Both children denied their part in the grandfather's death but were convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the same court in April, while the boy was cleared of Mr Kohli's murder. Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC told the sentencing hearing on Thursday that there was 'deliberate humiliation' of Mr Kohli during the attack that came against a backdrop of 'bullying and antagonising' of the pensioner by other local youths that the boy must have been aware of. Mr Kohli's children found him lying on the ground in agony when he told his daughter that he had been called a 'P***' during the attack. In a victim impact statement, Mr Kohli's daughter Susan Kohli told the packed courtroom on Thursday: '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.' She said the family had been left 'broken' by what had happened to her father, adding: 'They left my dad on his own, helpless and in pain. 'Losing dad in these cruel, violent and deeply shocking circumstances feels like our hearts have been pulled apart. 'We can't put into words the pain we feel everyday – we have never felt hurt and sadness like this.' Mr Kohli's grandson Simranjit Kohli said in a statement read by Mr Sandhu that he was 'haunted' by his grandfather's death. He said: 'It's painful for me and my family that we will never get to see if he is proud. We won't get to see the smile on his face when his grandkids get a house, get a car, then get married and have kids of their own. '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. '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.' In his sentencing remarks, High Court judge Mr Justice Turner said: 'I am sure you knocked Mr Kohli to the ground and hit him with your sliders. 'I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing at all to deserve what you did. 'What you did was wicked. 'You made a cowardly and violent attack on an elderly man.' Mr Justice Turner said the attack had been 'wicked' and that evidence that suggested Mr Kohli told his daughter he was called a 'P***' during the attack was right, but that evidence from their mobile phones did not show they held 'general racist views'. He said: 'It was a lazy but very hurtful insult.' Addressing the boy, the judge added: 'I'm sure you regret that he died because of what you did to Mr Kohli, but you still say it wasn't your fault. 'It was your fault and the sooner you realise this the better.' He accepted that while the girl had encouraged the boy's behaviour, she did not know he would use 'anything like the level of violence he did'. The boy, who was 14 at the time of the killing, told the jury he had a 'tussle' with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe which had fallen off before he slapped the elderly man with it out of 'instinct', which caused the pensioner to fall to his knees. He admitted pushing Mr Kohli over to defend the girl, who claimed the grandfather came towards her with his arms raised in a 'slapping motion', but denied kicking or punching him. In a letter written by the boy to a woman who had worked with him at the residential unit where he was being looked after last year, he wrote: 'I f****** hate what I did. I regret it so much. I have flashbacks of that day and it just upsets me. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.' The girl, who encouraged the boy's violence against Mr Kohli, filmed a series of video clips of the attack, in which she is heard laughing, keeping them in a passcode-protected 'My Eyes Only' folder on Snapchat. The clips included Mr Kohli being hit with the shoe by the masked boy, one showing the pensioner walking towards the exit of the park calling for help, and the grandfather lying motionless on the ground. She had told the court that Mr Kohli called her a 'bitch' when other children had thrown apples at him a week or two before he died. The girl, who was aged 12 when Mr Kohli was killed, denied that she took a photo of him a week before his death to 'target' him and told the court she did not point him out to the boy before the attack. Speaking before the sentencing, Kelly Matthews, senior district prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service East Midlands, said: 'This was a violent and unprovoked attack on a much-loved member of our community by two very young individuals. 'It's really important to pursue this to show that such unprovoked, violent incidents – that led to the death of an individual – will be pursued and prosecuted regardless of an individual's age, and regardless of their precise role in it. 'The boy was the one that inflicted the violence on Mr Kohli. (The girl) was a catalyst for these events and had she not done what she did, by pointing out Mr Kohli in the first place as well as the encouragement she gave, events may have unfolded differently. 'This is a shocking and tragic case, and our thoughts remain with Mr Kohli's family.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
Judge describes ‘violent outbursts' that killed dog walker yards from his home
A judge described the 'two separate violent outbursts' by two teenagers which killed a 'vulnerable' dog walker near his home. Bhim Kohli was walking his dog when he was racially abused, punched, kicked, and slapped in the face with a shoe in a brutal park attack in Braunstone Town near Leicester on September 1, 2024. The 80-year-old suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs and later died in hospital. In his sentencing remarks at Leicester Crown Court, Mr Justice Turner said it had been a 'cowardly and violent attack' on an elderly man who did 'nothing to deserve' what happened to him. A 15-year-old boy was ordered to serve seven years' detention and a 13-year-old girl was handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Why aren't the teenagers who killed Bhim Kohli being named?
A 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl have been found guilty at Leicester Crown Court of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Kohli following an attack in a park near Leicester in September. The elderly dog walker was racially abused and brutally attacked in Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, just yards away from his home, before dying in hospital the following day. Standing in the dock at Leicester Crown Court today, the teenagers appeared upset when the foreman of the jury returned the guilty verdicts. Judge Mr Justice Turner adjourned the pair's sentencing until 20 May. After the jury reached its unanimous verdicts following six hours and 46 minutes of deliberation, the judge further remanded the 15-year-old boy in custody and granted the 13-year-old female defendant bail. After telling the jury he wanted further background information on the defendants before passing sentence, the judge told the girl: 'I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that the fact that bail is being granted should not be taken as any indication as to the sentence when the time comes.' Currently the two defendants cannot be legally named because of their age. Mr Justice Turner said he will consider a media application to lift reporting restrictions on 19 May, but it is not clear if this relates to naming the two teenagers publicly. Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA) 1999 gives a Crown or adult magistrates' court the power to make a reporting restriction order for any child before them – including defendants. Automatic reporting restrictions apply to any child concerned in youth court proceedings, under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. While the Children and Young Persons Act states that unless there is a statutory requirement or compelling reason, cases involving children should be heard in the youth court, there are some exceptions. Government guidance says that for "serious crimes, like murder or rape, the case starts in the youth court but will be passed to a Crown Court". If this happens, as was the case for Bhim Kohli's killers, a Crown Court would have to impose a discretionary restriction under Section 45 of the YJCEA to protect a child defendant's identity. Even before court proceedings have begun, media organisations usually avoid identifying any child who has been arrested on suspicion of a crime. This is partly for ethical reasons, and also because it could later lead to court proceedings where reporting restrictions are activated. Press regulator IPSO says editors should 'generally avoid naming children under the age of 18 after arrest for a criminal offence but before they appear in a youth court unless they can show that the individual's name is already in the public domain, or that the individual (or, if they are under 16, a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult) has given their consent'. "This does not restrict the right to name juveniles who appear in a crown court, or whose anonymity is lifted," the guidance adds. Section 45 of the YJCEA allows courts to lift restrictions on identifying child defendants for the following reasons: The effect of the restrictions imposes a "substantial and unreasonable restriction on the reporting of the proceedings". It is in the public interest to remove or relax that restriction. "Prior to conviction the welfare of the child or young person is likely to take precedence over the public interest," the Crown Prosecution Service says. "After conviction, the age of the defendant and the seriousness of the crime of which they have been convicted will be particularly relevant." The bar for public interest in naming child defendants is fairly high, as shown by guidance from the cases of McKerry v Teesdale and Wear Justices (2000) and Damien Pearl v Kings Lynn Justices (2005). In these cases, the public interest was in public protection, but was served by a partial lifting of reporting restrictions: permitting publication of names but not photographs, addresses or schools. In McKerry the court held: "It would be wholly wrong for any court to dispense with a juvenile's prima facie right to anonymity as an additional punishment. "It is also very difficult to see any place for 'naming and shaming'. The... criterion that it is in the public interest to dispense with the reporting restriction must be satisfied." Bhim Kohli was walking his dog through Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, on the evening of Sunday, 1 September when he became the victim of a "serious assault", police said at the time. Jurors were told Kohli suffered a broken neck and rib fractures which were consistent with 'something heavy striking the rib cage' and died in hospital the next evening. The boy, who denied inflicting the fatal injuries, told a friend he would go 'on the run' to Hinckley, in Leicestershire, the day after the attack but was arrested by police minutes later while hiding in a bush, the court heard. In a letter written two months after the attack, the court heard the boy said 'I did it and I accept I'm doing time' and 'I kinda just needed anger etc releasing'. The boy told the jury he walked over to Kohli that evening, wearing a balaclava, because the girl told the group of five children that he 'carries a knife', before the man fell to his knees during a 'tussle' over the youth's slider. The court was shown a video clip filmed by the girl of the masked boy slapping Kohli in the face with his shoe, which he told the jury he did out of 'instinct'. In another clip taken by the girl, who was alleged to be laughing in one of the videos, Kohli could be seen lying motionless on his side in the park. The jury heard that when the victim was found injured in the park, he told his daughter that he had been called a 'P***' during the attack. Five children – a boy and a girl aged 14 and one boy and two girls aged 12 – were arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after the attack, but four were released without further action. At the time, Kohli's family said in a statement: 'Our hearts have been completely broken. He really was such a loving, caring person whose life was centred around his family. "Bhim was a loving husband, dad and grandad. He was also a son, brother and uncle. He adored his grandkids with all his heart and loved spending time with them. "He really was such a loving, caring person whose life was centred around his family. He has always been a very hardworking man and even at the age of 80 he was still very active. 'One of his great passions was his allotment, he would go every day to tend to his plots and was so proud of them. He also enjoyed walking the family dog Rocky on the park many times a day. 'Bhim loved to laugh. He was always very happy and talkative, the joker of the family and always loved to outsmart us with a smile." Read more Will killers be forced to face victims' families in court during sentencing? (Yahoo News) MoJ responds after reports Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was beaten up in Strangeways prison (Manchester Evening News) Why Axel Rudakubana did not receive a whole-life order (Yahoo News) Click below to see the latest East Midlands headlines
BBC News
08-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Liverpool fans' Uefa claim can be heard in England, judge rules
More than 800 Liverpool fans' legal claims against European football's governing body Uefa over chaotic scenes before the 2022 Champions League final can be heard in England, a High Court judge has congestion outside the Stade de France in Paris saw thousands of supporters penned in, tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by of the Liverpool supporters had already been targeted by local youths trying to steal tickets for the match against Real argued at a hearing in July that English courts did not have jurisdiction but Mr Justice Turner has now ruled otherwise. 'Primary responsibility' The high court, sitting in Liverpool, heard Uefa had relied upon the principle that English courts will not inquire into the legality of actions by foreign his 38-page judgement, Mr Justice Turner said fans who received their tickets for the game from Liverpool FC had involved "the imposition of an English contractual duty to take reasonable skill and care to be considered in regard to French health and safety laws and regulations as applicable to the stadium".In March 2024, Uefa said it had reached a "full and final settlement" with supporters, represented by two other law firms, who had made personal injury continuing claims concern hundreds of fans represented by law firm Leigh of its solicitors Jill Paterson said: "This is a landmark legal decision for Liverpool fans in their battle for justice against Uefa."Uefa will now have to answer them in the English courts."In February 2023, an independent report found Uefa bore "primary responsibility" for failures which almost led to a "mass fatality catastrophe". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
