UK
‘My dad could still be here’, says daughter of Bhim Kohli, 80, killed by children in Leicestershire park attack
The daughter of a man who was killed by two children has told Sky News “there is a possibility” he could have still been alive if police had taken anti-social behaviour reports more seriously.
Susan Kohli has spoken to The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee about what she says were failures by the Leicestershire force, leading up to the death of her 80-year-old father Bhim Kohli near Leicester in September 2024.
Mr Kohli was racially abused and physically attacked just yards from his home as he walked his dog in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town. He suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs, and died in hospital the next day.
Susan Kohli
Susan Kohli is critical of how Leicestershire Police dealt with earlier reports of anti-social behaviour in the area in July and August 2024, before the attack on her father. The force said it did not identify misconduct or missed opportunities, which could have prevented Mr Kohli’s death.
In one of the cases, Ms Kohli said her father faced abusive and racist comments and was spat at. Although the incident in August was not related to her father’s death, she believes a stronger police response could have deterred her dad’s killers.
“Why is it that they’re not taking these things seriously? Are they just waiting for something to happen? Because that’s literally what it looks and feels like.
“They waited for someone to lose their life before they took any stance. If they had arrested these two boys prior to that incident on the 1st of September, there is a possibility my dad could still be here,” she said.
A boy, who was 14 at the time of the attack, and a girl, who was 12, denied their part in the killing but were found guilty of manslaughter at Leicester Crown Court in April. The pair cannot be named because of their age.
Jurors heard the boy kicked and punched Mr Kohli – encouraged by the girl who recorded parts of the attack while laughing.
Susan Kohli told Sarah-Jane Mee she felt the children’s sentences were too lenient
Ms Kohli said she felt their sentences were too lenient after the boy received seven years’ detention while the girl was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
“We need the sentencing guidelines to be looked at, whether it’s a child or an adult, they know what they are doing at that age.
“Why is it that because they are a child that they get half the sentence of an adult? He’s going to be out in three and a half years or even less. How is that justice for taking somebody’s life? But that’s not justice at all. They’ve given us a life sentence.”
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Daughter’s anger over child killers
In August, the Court of Appeal ruled the boy’s sentence will not be changed, saying it was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive.
Solicitor General Lucy Rigby had referred the sentence to the court under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. The girl’s sentence was not referred to the Court of Appeal.
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Leicestershire Police told Sky News that, due to prior police contact with Mr Kohli, the force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
The force found that proportionate and reasonable lines of enquiry were followed and concluded that no misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented Mr Kohli’s death were identified.
Chief Superintendent Jonathan Starbuck said: “The death of Bhim Kohli is an extremely shocking, traumatic and upsetting incident and our thoughts, sorrow and sympathies continue to remain with Mr Kohli’s family and friends.
“We know that anti-social behaviour has a huge impact on people’s lives. Preventing and addressing incidents and community concerns is of the utmost importance to our force in order to ensure the safety of our residents. This is something we continue to work on, address and to make ongoing improvements wherever we can.
“Through our own local investigation, following direction by the IOPC, we also identified organisational learning in relation to improving our system of logging and tagging anti-social behaviour incidents.”
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We agreed with Leicestershire Police’s finding that police officers did proactively investigate matters reported to them and there was nothing to indicate any officers or police staff committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying disciplinary proceedings.
“And we agreed with learning identified by the force in respect of accurately recording and tagging incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB), thus ensuring incidents can be dealt with appropriately and to support the long-term management and deterrence of ASB.”
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