No sentence increase for dog walker's teenage killer

Bhim Kohli, 80, died the day after he was attacked in the park

A 15-year-old boy sentenced for the manslaughter of an 80-year-old man he racially abused and fatally attacked will not have his sentence extended.

Bhim Kohli was left with three broken ribs and other fractures in the attack, which took place in Franklin Park in Leicestershire on 1 September. Mr Kohli died in hospital from his injuries the next day.

The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was given seven years in custody but in July, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

After the Court of Appeal rejected moves to have the sentence increased on Wednesday, Mr Kohli's daughter Susan said "justice has not been done".

Lady Justice Macur, sitting alongside Mrs Justice Cutts and Mr Justice Murray, ruled the boy's sentence was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive.

She said: "We consider that the judge conscientiously executed the necessary sentencing exercise and conveyed his remarks to offender and co-defendant with great skill.

"We do not find that the sentence was unduly lenient."

Regarding a defence attempt to reduce the sentence, she said: "The sentence was a very significant sentence and necessarily so.

"It is entirely warranted by the seriousness of the offence. It is unarguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive."

Susan Kohli said the guidelines needed to change

Addressing the family, who were in court, Lady Justice Macur said "it is a loss hard to bear".

Outside court, Ms Kohli said she felt the sentencing guidelines were at fault.

"Justice has not been done," she told the BBC after the hearing.

"I am prepared to go as far as I can to reach out to MPs, get this changed in Parliament, to get the guidelines changed so we can have tougher sentences for these youths.

"Because if the youths are prepared to conduct themselves in the way that they do, they should be prepared to face the full weight of the law."

A trial previously heard Mr Kohli's children found him lying on the ground after the attack

The boy was convicted after a six-week trial in June at Leicester Crown Court.

Jurors heard the boy say in his evidence he had a "tussle" with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe before he slapped Mr Kohli with it out of "instinct", which caused him to fall to his knees, but he denied kicking or punching him.

He was convicted alongside a 13-year-old girl, who also cannot be named.

The court heard she encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, with video clips showing the balaclava-clad boy hitting Mr Kohli with a shoe.

The girl took a photograph of Mr Kohli on her phone the week before, but denied she used this to "target" him, the trial heard.

'Shocked the country'

Police also recovered a video from her phone of a group of children "confronting" an unknown man on a separate occasion, who was hit to the back of the head and was racially abused while she was heard laughing.

The girl was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order and her sentence was not referred to the Court of Appeal.

Solicitor General Lucy Rigby, who referred the case to the Court of Appeal, said: "Bhim Kohli suffered an entirely unprovoked attack while walking his dog in his local park, the nature of which shocked the country.

"It was understandable that I received several requests under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to consider his sentence.

"Following careful consideration, I concluded that the male offender's sentence should be referred to the Court of Appeal as it appeared unduly lenient.

"I respect the Court of Appeal's decision. My thoughts today are with Mr Kohli's friends and family, and everyone impacted by this horrendous crime."

Additional reporting by PA Media.