The daughter of a dog walker who died after being attacked by a teenager in a Leicester park has told GB News the police failed to act on anti-social behaviour in the lead up to his death.
In September last year, 80-year-old Bhim Kohli walked his dog Rocky in Franklin Park in Braunstone. He would never come home.
Kicked and punched by a 15-year-old boy whilst a 13-year-old girl laughed filmed the attack on her phone, Mr Kohli sustained fractured ribs and a spinal cord injury, and died 24 hours later.
Now his daughter, Susan, says failures by Leicestershire Police in the months leading up to his death meant it could have been avoided.
A pattern of anti-social behaviour began in June 2024, when youths climbed onto a neighbour’s garage roof.
In July, the harassment escalated when young people spat at Mr Kohli outside his home.
When Susan intervened, she was racially abused and the police conducted door-to-door enquiries.
In August, another Asian man was attacked in the park. Susan and her father caught youths throwing stones at the victim, subjecting him to racial abuse and spitting at him.
GB NEWS
The suspects were identified within two days, but no arrests were made for 17 days, and only came after Bhim Kohli’s death. The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was jailed for seven years. Meanwhile, the girl was sentenced to a three year Youth Rehabilitation Order for encouraging the boy by pointing out the victim, filming it on her mobile phone and laughing.
In Leicestershire Police’s internal investigation shared with the Independent Office for Police Conduct, there is no explanation about why no action was taken.
Speaking to the People’s Channel, Susan Kohli said she was “angry” at the lack of response to the incidents. She said: “They chose chose to just sit on it and not take the action that they should have done when they identified two youths causing trouble. When you put a police presence in the area, that puts a deterrent in place because it moves that behaviour on. My dad, unfortunately, had to lose his life before the police took any action.”
The force’s own guidance states arrests should be made at the “earliest practical opportunity”. But after Susan questioned the delay, she was told it was because of the investigating officer’s workload, shift patterns and a bank holiday.
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In September last year, Bhim Kohli walked his dog Rocky in Franklin Park in Braunstone
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The loss of her father lives with Susan every day, but she believes the attack on him could have happened tp anyone.
She told GB News: “There’s not a day that goes past that we think about it, especially with what happened and how it happened. It is a constant reminder for us because it happened virtually on our doorstep, yards from where we live. This might not have been my dad that lost his life. It might have been that guy on the 17th of August. He could have been seriously assaulted if me and my dad did not intervene.”
The IOPC investigation concluded there were “no missed opportunities” and found no individual misconduct.
The death of Bhim Kohli shocked his community and the country. Now his daughter Susan is determined to get accountability.
She said: “People can only learn when they take accountability. It’s accepting what went wrong and making that change to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
In a statement, Leicestershire Police said: “We only became aware of the full extent of the anti-social behaviour in the area following Mr Kohli’s death as a result of the extensive major crime investigation. We feel that it is important to be clear that although there were some reported incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area, there were no offenders consistently involved and therefore no evidence of a pattern of behaviour prior to Mr Kohli’s death. We review any learning and welcome opportunities to improve where we can.”