CCTV cameras captured footage of two children running from a Leicestershire park after allegedly racially abusing an elderly man who was kicked and punched while yards from his home, a murder trial has heard. A jury at Leicester Crown Court was shown footage today (Wednesday, February 26) of two children fleeing after Bhim Kohli, 80, was fatally injured and left lying motionless on the ground in Braunstone Town's Franklin Park.
A 15-year-old boy is on trial charged with the pensioner's murder and one count of manslaughter, and a 13-year-old girl is on trial charged with Mr Kohli's manslaughter. Neither child can be named because of their ages, and both deny the charges laid against them.
Mr Kohli had walked his dog a short distance from his home to the park on Sunday, September 1, last year, when, it is alleged, he was slapped in the face with a shoe by a boy wearing a balaclava, and filmed on a girl's phone while being attacked. The jury has heard that when Mr Kohli was asked by his daughter at the scene what had happened, he replied: "I have been punched in the face and they have kicked me."
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Mr Kohli also told his daughter that he had been called a racist slur, the court heard. Other videos shown to the jury include Mr Kohli on his knees being slapped in the face with a slider by a boy wearing a balaclava, the attacker shouting at the elderly man after he gets up from the ground and the pensioner laying motionless on his side.
At 5.38pm on the day of the attack, the prosecution said, a doorbell camera video showed the boy and girl leaving the boy's home with another child. They then met two girls, and formed a group of five, all of whom then entered Franklin Park at 6.21pm, three minutes after Mr Kohli arrived there.
Mr Kohli was seen on CCTV footage slowly walking from his home in Bramble Way to the entrance of Franklin Park, with his dog following closely behind him.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC told the court: “Bhim Kohli entered the park. He stopped to engage with an unknown person. He then took a right-hand turn, walking into the park through the trees and out of the view of this CCTV."
Mr Sandhu told the jury that two children in the group of five were seen leaving the park before Mr Kohli was assaulted, and then another girl was seen running from the park. Then, two children were captured running the scene - alleged to be the girl and boy who are on trial.
The court was told that the footage captured a female voice saying, "Have you got anger issues or something?", and a male voice saying, "I smacked him", as a group of children walked away from the scene.
Another female voice was heard to say: "Oh gosh, it's getting worse. Is there anything else you need to tell us before it gets worse? Just tell it us now."
In one of the clips shown to the jury, a male voice can be heard saying, "He whacked his head off a log", before a female voice replied, "Oh I know, I saw that – it goes 'doosh'", and at the same time, the court heard, the girl defendant made a "gesture movement" with her head.
The court heard that Mr Kohli was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where it "was not possible to save him". He died the following day, Monday, September 2. The trial continues.
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