The boy accused of murdering Bhim Kohli as he walked his dog in a Leicester park confessed to the attack in a message to a friend, a court had heard. It was also claimed that the teenager said he was going "on the run" minutes before he was arrested hiding in a bush.
Mr Kohli was allegedly racially abused and slapped in the face with a shoe by a boy wearing a balaclava on Sunday, September 1 last year. Leicester Crown Court has previously heard how the alleged attack was filmed on the phone of a 12-year-old girl who stands accused of Mr Kohli's manslaughter.
Mr Kohli, who was 80, had walked a short distance from his home to Franklin Park in Braunstone Town when he was allegedly attacked. He died in hospital the next day after suffering fractured ribs and a spinal cord injury.
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On the third day of the trial, the jury heard the boy was sending and receiving Snapchat messages about the attack after details of the incident were published in the news. The court heard in one of the messages, the boy was asked by someone if he had "leathered" Mr Kohli, to which he replied: "I watched him hit a girl and pull a knife out. So yeah."
In another message to the boy, a friend said "someone smacked up an 80-year-old", to which he is said to have replied: "I did that. I watched him pull a knife on a girl and hit her. I didn't mean to batter him. I regret it man, I do."
The boy is also reported to have said he was "sorry for everything", adding: "Everything is gone. I'm sorry bro."
Court heard the 15-year-old had also messaged another friend asking if he could stay at their house because he was in a "fed chase" and had "10 officers after me", to which the friend said no.
The jury was told the boy's mother pleaded with her son to come home at around 8pm the day after the attack after he messaged her to say he would not be returning because police were looking for him and he would "explain it" later. His mother said: "I love you all the world and more but if you don't want me stressed just come home so it can be dealt with. You're making it worse for yourself, just come home."
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC said Mr Kohli was pronounced dead in hospital at 8.47pm that evening.
At 9.30pm on Monday, September 2, the boy told a contact on Snapchat that he was at home to get money so he could get on a bus to nearby Hinckley and would then go "on the run". But eight minutes later, the boy was arrested by Leicestershire Police while hiding in a bush.
The court heard the boy had made a number of Google searches before his arrest for "Franklin Park news" and had read about details of the attack in a BBC article.
The 15-year-old and the girl, who is now 13, cannot be named because of their ages. The trial continues.
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