Teen killers' parents should face court too: 80-year-old victim's daughter says police should 'hold parents accountable' after boy, 15, and girl, 13, were sentenced for fatal attack

Daily Mail​

06-06-2025

The heartbroken daughter of a pensioner who died after being brutally attacked by two children has said the teenage killers' parents should be dragged into court and held accountable for their kids' actions.
Bhim Kohli, 80, was out walking his dog just yards from his home in Braunstone Town, near Leicester, when he was set upon by a balaclava-wearing boy, 15, while a 13-year-old girl filmed the shocking assault.
The innocent grandfather was kicked and punched to the ground, racially abused and mocked by the girl - who recorded him as he lay on his knees.
Moments later, the frail pensioner was left crumpled and alone in the park. His own children discovered him with horrific injuries later that day.
He died in hospital the following evening, having suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs.
Yesterday the 15-year-old boy was ordered to serve just seven years in a young offenders' detention centre and a 13-year-old girl was spared being jailed and instead handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Now, in the wake of their sentencing, Mr Kohli's devastated daughter has issued a powerful call for justice - Susan Kohli said the teenagers' parents should also face legal consequences.
'The parents have a part to play in it because from what we heard in court, (the children) were out at crazy times. They were on the phones at gone midnight. These are children of the age of 12 and 14 (at the time of the killing),' she said.
'How can a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old do something like this to an old-age pensioner? Do they not think what if this happened to their parents, their grandparents?
'(It's) adults taking responsibility. Hold the parents accountable. Then bring them to court as well.'
During the harrowing trial at Leicester Crown Court, Mr Justice Turner told the pair - referred to only as D1 and D2 due to their ages - that the attack was 'cowardly' and 'wicked.'
Turning to the boy, he said: '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.'
It was also revealed that Mr Kohli told his daughter he had been called a 'P***' during the attack.
The judge acknowledged this but added that mobile phone evidence didn't show the teens held 'general racist views,' calling it instead 'a lazy but very hurtful insult.'
The court heard chilling details about the girl's role: she filmed the boy slapping Mr Kohli with a slider shoe and recorded footage of him lying motionless on the ground.
Shockingly, she also had a photo of the elderly man on her phone taken eight days before the attack.
The boy had originally been charged with murder but was found guilty of manslaughter.
In a letter written two months later, he claimed to be suffering flashbacks and wrote: 'I feel like my case is evil. I accept I did it and I am doing time. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.'
Despite the horrifying nature of the crime, Susan Kohli says the young killers were treated with kid gloves by the justice system.
'I feel angry and disappointed that the sentence… does not, I believe, reflect the severity of the crime they committed,' she said after the hearing.
The court made deliberate efforts to make the proceedings less intimidating for the children — lawyers did not wear wigs or gowns, and the defendants were allowed to avoid sitting in the dock.
Ms Kohli said there had been 'under-reporting' of incidents of anti-social behaviour in the months leading up to the attack on her father and that the Government needs to do more to ensure police have the resources they need to safeguard communities.
Reading her own statement to the packed courtroom yesterday, Mr Kohli's daughter Susan Kohli said her family are surrounded by 'consistent sadness' since he died.
She said: 'They left my dad on his own, helpless and in pain. Losing dad in these cruel, violent and deeply shocking circumstances feels like our hearts have been pulled apart.
'We can't put into words the pain we feel every day - we have never felt hurt and sadness like this.
'My mum, a gentle human being, has found herself saying she would like the children subjected to the same treatment they gave her husband to see how they feel.'
She added: 'My mum and I felt we needed to attend the trial each day to understand the evidence fully.
'We tried to remain strong but, the truth is, inside we feel broken and it has been stressful listening to the enormity of what happened and what he was subjected to.'
Describing the moments she found her father injured on the ground in the park just yards from the family home, Ms 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. We were later told the shocking news he was no longer able to take the medication that was keeping him alive.
'He passed away before our eyes, surrounded by his family who were in floods of tears and disbelief.
'Due to him being killed in these circumstances and being involved in a criminal investigation, dad was unable to donate his organs which were always his wishes. It pains me we were unable to meet his wishes.'