Two children deny killing Bhim Kohli, 80, in a park near Leicester

Two schoolchildren allegedly killed a pensioner just yards from his home after hurling racist taunts at him as he walked his dog, jurors have heard.

Bhim Kohli was killed in an act of ‘pure violence’ after leaving home to do ‘what he did each day’, prosecutors allege.

The 80-year-old was ‘slapped’ in the face with a shoe by a balaclava-clad boy while on his knees as a girl filmed the incident and laughed, a court heard.

A 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl – who cannot be named due to legal reasons because of their age – deny their part in fatally injuring the pensioner on September 1 last year.

The boy is charged with murder and manslaughter, while the girl is charged with manslaughter.

Jurors heard how Mr Kohli died from his injuries in hospital following the alleged attack in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester.

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Opening the case at Leicester Crown Court today (Tuesday, February 25), prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC said: “On September 1 last year, 2024, an 80-year-old man called Bhim Kohli did what he did each day.

“He left his home on Bramble Way in Leicester. Having left his home, he walked a few yards to the entrance of Franklin Park, where he was going to take his dog for a walk.

“On September 1, however, Mr Kohli would not get the opportunity to walk his dog for long and never would he return home.

“That is because in Franklin Park, Mr Kohli had the misfortune to encounter these two defendants.

“[The boy and girl] used racist taunts against Mr Kohli, [the boy] used violence against Mr Kohli, [the girl] encouraged [the boy] to use violence against Mr Kohli.

“The prosecution say that as a result of causing those injuries, [the boy] is guilty of murdering Mr Kohli and that [the girl] who encouraged the causing of those injuries is guilty of manslaughter.”

The youths spent that afternoon together at Braunstone Park before going to the boy’s home where he changed his clothes and wore black sliders.

The sliders were said to have been used in the attack, jurors heard.

The prosecutor said CCTV captured Mr Kohli walking to Franklin Park at 6.18pm, followed three minutes later by the defendants, who were with three other children.

The boy was carrying a balaclava as the group of five walked to the park.

But ‘it would not be long’ before he put the balaclava on, Mr Sandhu said.

The girl is said to have first spotted Mr Kohli and told the group that he had tried to hit one of the male defendant’s friends with a stick.

The boy walked up to Mr Kohli, followed by the girl, but the other three children did not approach the pensioner.

Two of them left the park, Mr Sandhu told the court.

One of the friends who ran away told police they left because they thought the boy was ‘either going to start on him or be mean’.

Mr Sandhu said: “[The girl] remained with [the boy]. She remained with him in order to support him in what was about to happen.

“Within four minutes and 40 seconds, he had put his balaclava on.

“He had put his balaclava on in preparation for the violence he was going to use against Mr Kohli.”

Mr Sandhu said Mr Kohli was ‘on his knees’ when the boy allegedly slapped him round the face with the slider shoe, an incident the girl filmed as she laughed.

Footage of the alleged incident was shown to the jury.

Mr Sandhu said: “You heard that slap, you heard the slider making contact with Mr Kohli’s face.

“There was nothing for [the boy] to fear from an 80-year-old man who was on his knees.

“It was pure violence used by [the boy], pure violence encouraged by [the girl].

“[The girl] made a noise. That noise was her laughing. She laughed as [the boy] assaulted Mr Kohli.”

The trial continues.