A 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl have been found guilty of murdering an 80-year-old man who was walking his dog and whose attack was captured on video before his death.
During the six-week trial, Bhim Kohli, 80, was injured and racially abused just metres from his home in Franklin Park, near Leicester, on September 1 last year.
Jurors at Leicester Crown Court deliberated for six hours and 46 minutes before unanimously finding the boy and girl, whose names cannot be revealed because of their ages, guilty of manslaughter.
The boy was also charged with murder, but the jury acquitted him of that charge.
The young defendants, appearing in the dock for the first time since the trial began, looked distressed as the jury foreman announced the verdict.
Jurors were told Mr Kohli had a broken neck and ribs, consistent with being “hit in the chest with something heavy”, and he died in hospital the following evening.
The boy, who denied causing the fatal injuries, told a friend he would “run away” to Hinckley, Leicestershire, the day after the attack but was soon caught by police hiding in bushes, a court heard.
In a letter written two months after the attack, the court heard the boy said: “I did it and I understand I'm serving time” and “I just needed to vent my anger and so on.”
Following the verdict, Judge Turner remanded the 15-year-old into custody and released the 13-year-old defendant on bail.
He told the jury: “From what I have seen it is quite clear that you have studied the case carefully and have shown exceptional conscientiousness in the performance of your duties.”
He postponed sentencing of the young men until May 20.
The boy told jurors he approached Mr Kohli wearing a balaclava that evening as the girl told the group of five children he was “carrying a knife” before the man fell to his knees during a “fight” over his actions.
The court was shown a video recorded by the girl which showed a masked boy hitting Mr Kohli in the face with a boot, which he told jurors he did “instinctively”.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu QC described the boy's actions as “unreasonable violence against a defenceless person”.
In another video, shot by a girl who was said to be laughing while recording, Mr Kohli can be seen lying motionless on his side in a park.
In his evidence, the male defendant told the court he pushed Mr Kohli to “protect” the girl, who he thought would be hit or pushed by the older man, but he denied ever kicking or punching Mr Kohli.
Jurors heard that when the victim was found injured in a park he told his daughter he had been insulted and called a “c***” during the attack.
Speaking after the inquest, Leicestershire Police Chief Inspector Mark Sinskey said Mr Kohli was a “loved grandfather” who “enjoyed the simple pleasures in life” such as spending time with his family, tending his garden and walking his dog.
He said: “(Mr Kohli) grew vegetables for his neighbours and many of them called him 'grandpa' both as a mark of affection and out of respect for what a true gentleman he was.
“It is clear that the fatal attack by children on an elderly man in a public park near his home has shaken the community and the family to the core. It should never have happened.
“Mr Kohli was a true family man. He was the centre of his family – a much loved husband.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
