Two youths guilty of Leicester dog walker’s manslaughter

Two teenagers have been found guilty of manslaughter for the death of an 80-year-old as he walked his dog in a park in Leicester.

Bhim Kohli was attacked in Franklin Park on 1 September last year by a 14-year-old boy, who was filmed and encouraged by a 12-year-old girl. Neither can be named for legal reasons. Mr Kohli died the next day from the injuries inflicted during the attack.

Investigations into Mr Kohli’s death revealed that the boy, now 15, went to the park with a group of friends, including the girl, now 13. The girl had seen Mr Kohli in the park previously, pointed him out to the boy and the pair approached him. At this point, the rest of the group hurriedly left the park. The assault on Mr Kohli then took place.

The boy, now wearing a balaclava, confronted Mr Kohli, causing the fatal injury. During the attack, the girl filmed the encounter and encouraged the boy to continue, laughing as she did so. The two then fled the scene, leaving Mr Kohli lying injured.

After the attack, the defendants ran off to join friends, laughing about the incident and even bragging about it. As the serious consequences of their actions became clearer, they began to lie about what had happened, making false allegations about Mr Kohli’s actions.

The boy was charged with murder, with an alternative count of manslaughter, a few days after Mr Kohli passed away. Following extensive investigations into the girl’s phone history, she was charged with manslaughter in December. They were today, Tuesday 8 April, both convicted of manslaughter.

Kelly Matthews from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This tragic incident shocked the community of Leicester and beyond. Mr Kohli set out to walk his dog in his local park as he did every day, but lost his life in what followed.

“We have shown in this trial that these young defendants were responsible for Mr Kohli’s death - in an unprovoked attack on an innocent man. They filmed the incident and laughed and bragged about it afterwards.

“Mr Kohli was a much-loved family man and his loss is felt keenly by those close to him. I would like to offer them my heart-felt sympathy for their loss and express my admiration for the dignity they have shown giving their accounts of these events to the court in such difficult circumstances.”

Both defendants will be sentenced in May. 

Building the Case

In charging these two young defendants, the CPS determined that they were both criminally responsible for Mr Kohli’s death, but with different roles. They were prosecuted under the principle of joint enterprise. Both actively participated in the incident that led to Mr Kohli’s death but in different ways.

The boy was the principal offender as it was his actions that resulted in Mr Kohli’s death. The evidence of the girl’s involvement showed that she was part of the attack, in encouraging it and filming it, but there was not enough evidence to show she could have foreseen the terrible outcome of the boy’s violent conduct.

The boy said in his defence that he had not intended to cause really serious harm, which is reflected in the verdict of manslaughter.

Evidence retrieved from the girl’s phone showed harrowing footage of the attack. Videos recovered revealed evidence she had an interest in violence. This evidence was shown to the jury to demonstrate that encouraging and filming violent incidents was characteristic behaviour for her.

The boy admitted to witnesses that he had assaulted Mr Kohli. He also wrote a letter to a social worker, admitting what he had done. Witnesses also reported that the girl had bragged about the attack.

Finally, the CPS presented CCTV evidence of the defendants’ actions before and after the attack. This included audio of them joking about the attack to friends. Witnesses confirmed that they had been showing off about what they had done.