Boy accused of pensioner’s murder ‘fell on him as he ran to push him over’
The boy told police he was ‘horrified’ to hear Bhim Kohli, 80, had died in hospital the day after he was allegedly attacked in a park.
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A boy accused of murdering an 80-year-old man as he walked his dog in a Leicestershire park told police he fell and landed on the pensioner’s rib cage as he ran to push him over, a court has heard.
Pensioner Bhim Kohli died in hospital a day after suffering fractured ribs and a spinal cord injury in an alleged attack at Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year.
A trial at Leicester Crown Court heard Mr Kohli was allegedly racially abused before he was forced to the ground and slapped in the head with a shoe by a boy wearing a balaclava, while a girl filmed the attack.
A 15-year-old boy is charged with one count of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, while a 13-year-old girl is charged with Mr Kohli’s manslaughter.
Neither of the teenagers can be named because of their age.
On the tenth day of the trial, police interviews on September 3 and 4 in which the male youth was questioned about the incident were read to the jury of eight women and four men.
In the interviews, the boy admitted he had hit the pensioner three times – twice on the jaw and once on the arm – but said two of them were “light” and the other “wasn’t that strong”.
The court was told that as the boy was being put into a police car after his arrest, he said: “I did it, I did it, I had my reasons, but I did it.”
In a prepared statement at the police station, the boy said it was Mr Kohli who “started it” and was “aggressive” but said he regretted what had happened.
The statement said he had gone to the park with friends to “chill” and had been there around 10 minutes when one of them alerted him to Mr Kohli, telling him he had “pulled out a flick knife on a friend” previously.
The boy said he went over to ask Mr Kohli if he had a knife because “it’s not right to have a knife where there are kids” but the pensioner ignored his question so he asked him again.
The boy claimed Mr Kohli said something like “f*** off” and had his fist clenched before he “went to slap” him but he ducked.
The boy said that after walking away, he saw Mr Kohli approaching the female youth defendant with his arms raised as if he would “punch her in the face”.
He said: “I was worried, I ran over and pushed him to the floor so he wouldn’t hit (her).
“As I ran with my hands out to push him, I fell too. My head landed on his rib cage.
“I stood up and hit him. There was a woman nearby and I asked her to call an ambulance. We left the park and found (our friends).
“I didn’t want to hurt the male, he was the one who had become aggressive. He had taken photos of me and I even posed for them.
“I deeply regret the incident and was horrified to hear he died. I would like to express my sadness to his family and friends.”
He gave no comment answers when asked by officers how Mr Kohli fell, but when asked if he had called him a “P***”, the boy said: “I ain’t said s*** to him. Didn’t f****** kick him either.”
The youth admitted he had anger issues which were triggered when he was confused or could not understand something, but when asked if being told to “f*** off” would have angered him, he refused to answer.
He also said “no comment” when officers put it to him that his actions had caused Mr Kohli’s injuries.
In her police interviews on September 2, the female defendant said a couple of weeks before Mr Kohli died, she was present at the park when a group of teenage boys she did not know threw apples at the pensioner.
She said Mr Kohli was agitated, called them “b*******” and kept “reaching for something in his pocket”, which she assumed was a knife, and said there were rumours spreading that he carried one.
Asked by officers if Mr Kohli was someone local youths would “poke fun at”, she said: “Yeah I think because he’s old.”
She denied trying to aggravate Mr Kohli and said she felt scared when he approached her in the park on the day of the fatal incident.
The girl, who was heard laughing in the videos she allegedly filmed of the attack, was asked by officers what she found funny.
She replied: “Just him hitting the old man. It was a bit funny at the time.”
She denied getting “enjoyment” out of watching the videos back and when asked if she thought Mr Kohli deserved the attack, she said: “Not really.”
The trial continues.