A 15-YEAR-OLD boy and a 13-year-old girl were found guilty on Tuesday (8) of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Kohli, who died last year following an attack while walking his dog in a Leicester park.
The teenagers, who cannot be named due to their age, were convicted after a six-week trial at Leicester Crown Court.
Kohli was assaulted in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, on the evening of September 1 last year. He died in hospital the following day from injuries sustained in the attack.
The boy was found not guilty of murder. The girl was convicted for encouraging the incident by pointing out the victim, filming the assault on her phone, and laughing.
The pair are due to be sentenced on May 20. According to evidence presented during the trial, Kohli left his home on Bramble Way at 6.18pm on September 1, 2024, to walk his dog, Rocky.C
CTV footage showed the teenagers and three other youths entering the park three minutes later. Within minutes, the 15-year-old approached Kohli, verbally abused him, and slapped him with a slider. The girl recorded parts of the incident on her phone.
The court heard the boy had been told Kohli had previously hit another teenager with a stick, though this was not confirmed. As the boy shouted at Kohli, the other three teenagers left. The boy put on a balaclava before the physical assault.
After the attack, the pair were seen running out of the park at 6.28pm. Kohli’s grandson found him lying on the ground and in pain. Emergency services arrived soon after.
Kohli told them he had been attacked by a boy who made a racist comment and hit and kicked him.
He was taken to hospital and later died from a neck injury and rib fractures. The injuries were caused during the attack.
Police arrested five teenagers initially. The 15-year-old boy, who was 14 at the time, was charged a day after being arrested.
The three other friends were released with no further action.The girl, who was 12 at the time, was later charged in December after footage was recovered from her phone.
Detectives also found Snapchat messages where the boy admitted the assault and claimed Kohli had pulled a knife — something the court found was not true.
Detective chief inspector Mark Sinski said: “Bhim Kohli was simply doing what he did every day, walking his dog… attacked by a teenage boy, who was encouraged by a teenage girl.”
Due to prior police contact with Kohli, the case was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The investigation is being handled locally and the report has been submitted to the IOPC.
