Teen racially abused and beat grandfather Bhim Kohli with shoe as girl, 13, laughed during fatal attack, court hears

25 February 2025, 19:05 | Updated: 25 February 2025, 19:13

A 13-year-old girl laughed as a teenage boy racially abused and beat an 80-year-old grandfather with a shoe, a court has heard.

The 15-year-old boy kicked and punched Bhim Kohli to death in a park last September to "let his anger out" before falsely claiming the pensioner had threatened a girl with a knife.

The teen is accused of racially abusing Mr Kohli as he beat him with a shoe while a 13-year-old girl looked on laughing and filming from her smartphone.

The two teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday for the start of a trial over the death of Bhim Kohli in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year.

The boy is charged with murder and one count of manslaughter, with the girl accused of Mr Kohli's manslaughter.

The court heard the boy had donned a balaclava before going out to commit the act of violence.

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In a message recovered from the boy's phone, the court heard that he wrote: "I watched him pull a knife out on a girl and hit her. I did not mean to batter him. My anger turned in."

A friend of the youth told police he wanted "to teach him not to do it again" but instead he "let his anger out".

Prosecution barrister Harpreet Sandhu KC said: "They had to think of a way to justify the violence which had been used by (the boy) against Mr Kohli and which had been encouraged by (the girl).

"To justify what they had done they made up an account. The account was that Mr Kohli had pulled a knife on (the girl).

"It was not Mr Kohli's habit to carry a knife, no knife was recovered from the clothing that Mr Kohli was wearing at the time, and no knife was recovered from Franklin Park.

"The truth is, we suggest, that there was not a knife, and if there was not a knife, Mr Kohli did not pull a knife out on (the girl)."

Sandhu KC then showed the court a series of videos allegedly taken on the girl’s phone and recovered by police.

The first showed Mr Kohli on his knees as he was hit across the face with a slider shoe.

Another showed the elderly man lying on the ground still.

The prosecutor told the court that one of Mr Kohli's sons had arrived at the scene quickly after the assault.

He said: "When he arrived at the park Mr Kohli was on the ground and in obvious pain, indeed Mr Kohli told his son he was in pain.

"He told his son he had been hit, he pointed to his left side, and in particular the area of his ribs. He also pointed to the left side of his neck."

Mr Kholi’s daughter soon arrived at the park where he told her “repeatedly” that his neck was hurting.

When she asked why, he said: “I have been punched in the face and they have kicked me."

He also told his daughter that he had been called a "p***", the court heard.

The prosecutor continued: "The prosecution say that (the boy's) accounts to others fit with what Mr Kohli had said in the immediate aftermath of the attacks upon him.

"Taken individually and together those accounts show that (the boy) did not just push Mr Kohli over but that (the boy) subjected him to an intense attack.

"(The boy) did that because he intended to cause Mr Kohli really serious harm, that is supported by (the boy's) own telephone activity."

Mr Kohli's cause of death was given as a neck injury causing spinal cord damage, he also suffered a series of fractures.

Mr Sandhu: "Those injuries are consistent with what Mr Kohli said about being pushed and then being kicked and punched when he was on the ground. They are also consistent, we suggest, with what (the boy) said to others."

At one point, the prosecutor asked the 13-year-old girl why she chose to film the alleged attack.

She said: "I don't know, just to show (the boy) what he had done from like far away", jurors were told.

The two teens deny all charges.

The trial continues.