Two teenagers have been sentenced for the “cowardly and violent” killing of an 80-year-old grandfather who died with a broken neck and ribs.
The girl, 13, and boy, 15, who cannot be named, were sentenced for manslaughter on Thursday after Bhim Kohli died in September last year.
Mr Kohli was slapped in the face with a slider shoe and kicked and punched by the balaclava-clad boy, while the girl, who was 12 at the time, filmed and laughed.
The boy was detained at a young offender’s institute for seven years, and the girl was given a youth rehabilitation order for three years and a six-month curfew.
Speaking outside court after sentencing, Mr Kohli’s daughter Susan said her family’s “lives had been changed forever” because of the teenagers’ attack and their sentences did not reflect the severity of the crime.
She said her father’s death had “left a hole” in their family and she was “angry and disappointed” at the sentences the teenagers were handed.
Mr Kohli’s daughter told the court earlier she found him “screaming out” in pain just yards from his home near Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, on the outskirts of Leicester. He was taken to hospital where he died the next day.
Describing finding her injured father, Susan Kohli said: “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.”
Simranjit Kohli said he had been left wondering if his grandfather could have survived if he had got there sooner after he cried out for help. He said: “My grandad was one of the most important factors of my life. 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.”
Sentencing the teenagers, Mr Justice Turner said Mr Kohli “did nothing to deserve” being attacked in the park.
The judge referred to the boy as D1 and the girl as D2 to protect their identities which are covered by a reporting restriction.
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. 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.”
Both children denied their part in Mr Kohli’s death, Mr Justice Turner said.
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.”
A Leicestershire Police investigation found there was “no misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented” Mr Kohli’s death.
