The daughter of elderly dog walker Bhim Kohli, who was viciously assaulted in a Leicestershire park, has revealed she is ‘disappointed’ his teenage killer will not have his sentence for manslaughter increased.
Mr Kohli, 80, was punched and kicked, slapped in the face with a shoe and racially abused in an attack near Leicester, on September 1 last year, and died the next day.
A balaclava-clad 15-year-old boy attacked Me Kohli while a 13-year-old female filmed and laughed.
In June, the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years’ custody in June.
The girl was spared jail and instead handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Following the boy’s sentencing, Lucy Rigby, the Solicitor General (SG), referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Lady Justice Macur, sitting alongside Mrs Justice Cutts and Mr Justice Murray, ruled that the boy’s sentence was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive.
She said: ‘We consider that the judge conscientiously executed the necessary sentencing exercise and conveyed his remarks to offender and co-defendant with great skill.
The teenage killer of pensioner Bhim Kohli will not have his sentence for manslaughter reduced – or increased – the Court of Appeal has ruled
Bhim Kohli walks his dog in Braunstone near Leicester before he was killed in September 2024
An aerial view of the scene last September, showing Mr Kohli’s home (bottom left)
‘We do not find that the sentence was unduly lenient.’
Of the attempt to reduce the sentence, she said: ‘The sentence was a very significant sentence and necessarily so.
‘It is entirely warranted by the seriousness of the offence. It is unarguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive.’
The decision left Mr Kohli’s grieving daughter Susan ‘disappointed’ as she called on sentencing guidelines to change.
When asked for her reaction following the ruling, she said: ‘Disappointed, but once again we go back to what I said originally.
‘It is the guidelines that need to change.’
She continued: ‘We need to go to Parliament to get these guidelines changed, to hold these youths responsible for what they do.’
Mr Kohli’s daughter added that the situation ‘cannot continue’ and said: ‘We should not have to lose somebody else to these youngsters.’
Bhim Kohli, 80, sustained fractured ribs and a broken neck in the attack last September
Police at Franklin Park following the attack last September, after the area was cordoned off
Mr Kohli’s daughter, Susan (centre) gave an emotional statement outside Leicester Crown Court in June where she criticised the sentences that were handed out
In announcing the decision, Lady Justice Macur gave an overview of how today’s conclusion was reached.
Paul Jarvis KC, for the SG, said that although the sentencing judge did not identify a high risk of death, he did say there was a high risk of very serious harm.
He added: ‘We say, if not unduly lenient, most certainly not manifestly excessive.’
Balraj Bhatia KC, for the boy, told the court that Mr Kohli’s frailty meant ‘little or no force was required’ to kill him.
He said: ‘Sadly, the vulnerability of the deceased’s neck was such that had he spent a day on his beloved allotment and fallen accidentally, the result would have been the same.’
Addressing Mr Kohli’s family at the end of the hearing, Lady Justice Macur said: ‘We wish to express genuine condolences to the family of Mr Kohli who have experienced such a devastating loss.
‘The photographs which have appeared in the press accurately reflect what was obviously a sunny disposition and genuine enjoyment of life, his family, and all of that which he did.
‘It is a loss that will be hard to bear.’
Mr Kohli, pictured with his wife Satinder, died last year from the effects of a spinal cord injury
The pensioner was attacked at Franklin Park in Braunstone Tow near Leicester on September 1 last year.
The court heard that the girl encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, with video clips showing the balaclava-clad boy hitting Mr Kohli with a shoe.
Another clip showed Mr Kohli lying on the ground motionless.
The grandfather had been racially abused and left on the ground near his home before his family found him severely injured in the evening.
He died in hospital the next day having suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs.
The girl took a photograph of Mr Kohli on her phone the week before the alleged incident, but denied she used this to ‘target’ him, the trial heard.
Police also recovered a video from her phone of a group of children ‘confronting’ an unknown man on a separate occasion, who was hit to the back of the head and called a ‘P*** bastard’ while she was heard laughing.
During the trial, jurors heard the boy say in his evidence that he had a ‘tussle’ with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe before he slapped the elderly man with it out of ‘instinct’, which caused the pensioner to fall to his knees, but he denied kicking or punching him.
Mr Kohli’s wife Satinder lays a floral tribute to her late husband by the park last September
Mr Kohli’s wife, Satinder Kaur, carries some of the condolence cards left by other mourners
Flowers and a note left for Mr Kohli, which reads ‘To Bin, always a true and dearest friend’
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, 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 pair were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced in June at Leicester Crown Court.
Mr Justice Turner, who referred to the boy as D1 and the girl as D2, said what the pair had done was ‘wicked’ – and the pensioner ‘did nothing to deserve’ being attacked.
He said to the pair: ‘I am sure, D1, from the start you wanted to confront Mr Kohli, mainly because you were showing off to D2 – you knew she was watching and was likely to take films on her mobile phone.’
The judge said to the boy: ‘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 added that evidence that 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.’
Flowers left at the scene at the entrance to Franklin Park where Mr Kohli was allegedly attacked
Mr Justice Turner said the boy had decided in advance that he would be ‘hostile’ towards Mr Kohli, which was why he put his balaclava on before approaching him.
He said: ‘What you did was not one single attack which you immediately regretted, but two separate violent outbursts.’
The judge said using his slider shoe as a weapon was ‘more humiliating than dangerous’ and that he was ‘playing up to’ the girl and her video recording.
He said: ‘I’m sure you regret 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.’
The judge also told the girl that a short custodial sentence would do more harm than good, given the impact on her education.
Mr Kohli’s grieving daughter Susan had previously spoken out about her disappointment at the sentencing as being too lenient.
Standing on the steps outside Leicester Crown Court in June, she said: ‘I feel angry and disappointed that the sentence… does not, I believe, reflect the severity of the crime they committed.’
Solicitor General Lucy Rigby, who referred the sentence of Bhim Kohli’s killer to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, said she respects the court’s decision not to change the sentence.
In a statement after the hearing on Wednesday, she said: ‘Bhim Kohli suffered an entirely unprovoked attack while walking his dog in his local park, the nature of which shocked the country.
‘It was understandable that I received several requests under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to consider his sentence.
‘Following careful consideration, I concluded that the male offender’s sentence should be referred to the Court of Appeal as it appeared unduly lenient.
‘I respect the Court of Appeal’s decision. My thoughts today are with Mr Kohli’s friends and family, and everyone impacted by this horrendous crime.’
