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The court of appeal is to review the sentence handed to a teenage boy for killing an 80-year-old man, who was filmed being attacked and racially abused while walking his dog.
Bhim Kohli called out for help when he was attacked in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on 1 September last year. He died the next day with a spinal cord injury and fractured ribs.
Last month, Mr Justice Turner sentenced the 15-year-old boy who punched and kicked Kohli to seven years in custody. A 13-year-old girl who encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Both children, who cannot be named because of their age, denied their crimes, but were convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Leicester crown court.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said the case would be reviewed under the “unduly lenient” sentence scheme. “The solicitor general, Lucy Rigby KC MP, was appalled by this violent, cowardly attack on an innocent man. She wishes to express her deepest sympathies to Bhim Kohli’s friends and family at this difficult time.
“After undertaking a detailed review of the case, the solicitor general concluded the sentence of the 15-year-old boy could be referred to the court of appeal. The court will determine if the sentence is increased or not.”
Kohli’s daughter has previously expressed anger and disappointment at the sentences, saying they did not “reflect the severity of the crime”.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing hearing last month, Susan Kohli said her family’s “lives had been changed for ever”, adding: “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. However, I understand the judge has guidelines. But they have taken a life and, as a result, our lives have been changed for ever. When they are released, they still have their full lives ahead of them. They can rebuild their lives. We can’t.”
In his sentencing remarks the judge praised Bhim Kohli’s family for their “dignity” throughout the trial. “No one could fail to be deeply moved by what his daughter, in court, and his grandson, in a statement, have said. Their grief and anger will cast a long shadow over all of their lives.”
Turning to the convicted pair, the judge said: “I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing at all to deserve what you did. What you did was wicked.” He told the boy he had “made a cowardly and violent attack on an elderly man”.
