A teenager accused of murdering an 80-year-old man in a park by punching and kicking him, used “gratuitous” and “intense” violence before leaving his victim for dead, the prosecution at his trial have claimed.
The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, denies murder and an alternative count of manslaughter in relation to the death of Bhim Kohli, who died in hospital a day after suffering fractured ribs and a broken neck.
The youth’s co-defendant, a 13-year-old girl who also cannot be identified, denies manslaughter after allegedly encouraging the youth to attack Mr Kohli in Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year.
Addressing jurors at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC used his closing speech to accuse the youth of having a desire to cause really serious physical injury to Mr Kohli.
Mr Sandhu told the court that two video clips filmed by the girl showed the boy accused of murder without either of his sliders on his feet, and footage showed him using a slider to slap Mr Kohli.
Mr Sandhu told the jury: “It began to be filmed before (the boy) used a slider to slap Bhim Kohli to the face.
“As that filming started (the girl) zoomed in on the action.
“It is not a coincidence that she began filming before that piece of violence. It is not a coincidence that she zoomed in on what was about to occur before it occurred.”
Alleging that the girl had prior knowledge of what was about to happen, Mr Sandhu said: “She knew there would be violence and she had a desire to capture it – and capturing it provided encouragement for the violence to be meted out.”
The youth had no reason at all to hit Mr Kohli, Mr Sandhu said, adding that the boy’s actions had been “gratuitous violence against a man who was defenceless and a man who, because he was on the ground, was in a vulnerable position.”
He continued: “He was prepared to use violence when it wasn’t needed. His instinct when he first approached Bhim Kohli was to use violence.
“His instinct when he was angry was to use violence. By the time we get to (video) clip two (the boy) could just have left Franklin Park and done so easily.
“However he did not do that – he chose to stay in Franklin Park, where Bhim Kohli was.”
Suggesting to jurors that the boy used further violence between the filming of the second video clip and a third clip, Mr Sandhu alleged that it had involved kicks to the chest and punching.
Racial abuse allegedly aimed at Mr Kohli by the boy was “a sign of hostility” and would tell the jury something about what a person using violence intended, Mr Sandhu said.
The boy had attacked the victim while he was on the ground in clip one, the court heard, and was prepared to do the same just before clip three was filmed.
Telling jurors that the evidence showed the boy went to another park and “was bragging” about what had happened, Mr Sandhu said witness accounts of the teenager’s anger were a “running theme” in the case.
The boy has told jurors he fell on top of Mr Kohli, a claim which Mr Sandhu described as something which did not happen.
The claim was first mentioned in the boy’s prepared statement, which Mr Sandhu claimed was “full of lies”.
“The best evidence of what happened after that push is what (the boy) said to others, which supports what Bhim Kohli said to others,” the prosecutor said.
“The continuing attack on Bhim Kohli was intense,” Mr Sandhu alleged. “What we do know is that there was a point when (the defendants) legged it. They ran off leaving Bhim Kohli for dead.
“He (the boy) has always known that he did much more than push Bhim Kohli over.”
The trial continues on Wednesday.
