Latest news with #youthrehabilitation
The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Teenagers' sentences ‘do not reflect severity of crime', say Bhim Kohli's family
The daughter of a pensioner who was racially abused, hit with a shoe and filmed being attacked when he was killed by two teenagers said she was 'angry and disappointed', saying the sentences did not reflect the crime. A 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, who cannot be named because of their ages, were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday for the manslaughter of Bhim Kohli, aged 80, who was the victim of a 'wicked' attack near his home in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year. Both children had denied their part in killing the elderly dog walker, who died in hospital the day after the incident, but were convicted by a jury of manslaughter in April, while the boy was cleared of murder. High Court judge Mr Justice Turner handed the boy, who was aged 14 at the time of the killing, seven years' detention, and the girl, who was aged 12, a three-year youth rehabilitation order. The court heard that Mr Kohli was racially abused when the boy pushed, kicked and punched him, while the girl encouraged him by recording parts of the attack while laughing. Sentencing the pair, the judge said: 'I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing at all to deserve what you did. What you did was wicked.' Speaking outside court after sentencing, Mr Kohli's daughter Susan said her family's 'lives had been changed forever' because of the teenagers' attack. Ms Kohli said: 'The death of my dad has left a hole in our family, a hole that can never be filled because of the actions of two teenagers on that Sunday evening last September. '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.' Ms Kohli added that 'more could have been done' to prevent her father's death. She said: 'If police were able to have more visible patrols in the area following the previous reports of anti-social behaviour, then dad could still be alive today. 'We don't want any other family to endure the pain and heartbreak that we have of losing someone this way.' Ms Kohli said her father and some other neighbours had previously been subjected to assaults and racial abuse, and had reported two incidents to police. She said she thought her father would 'still be here' if there had been more of a police presence in the area. A Leicestershire Police investigation found there was 'no misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented' Mr Kohli's death. The force said in a statement: 'Organisational learning was identified in relation to logging and tagging incidents of anti-social behaviour. As part of our continual improvements in this area, discussion began at the start of 2024, leading to a new system which is now in place. 'We would always encourage you, our communities, to report anti-social behaviour incidents and concerns to the police or to your local council as soon as possible.'
The Independent
5 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
5 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.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Bhim Kohli: Boy and girl sentenced for killing dog walker, 80
A 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl have been sentenced for killing an 80-year-old man out walking his dog in a Kohli died the day after he was assaulted in Franklin Park, yards from his home in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, on 1 September last boy, who racially abused Mr Kohli before slapping him in the face with a slider shoe, was sentenced to seven years in custody at Leicester Crown Court on girl, who encouraged the assault and laughed as she filmed it on her phone, was given a youth rehabilitation order of three years and made subject to a six month curfew. Both were convicted of manslaughter.
