Police told of racist attack before man killed

An elderly man who was racially abused before being fatally attacked had told police he witnessed an assault on another Asian man yards from his home two weeks earlier, the BBC has found.

Bhim Kohli had been walking his dog in a park in Leicestershire in September when he was punched and kicked by a 14-year-old boy while a girl, 12, filmed the attack.

The BBC has learnt that Mr Kohli spoke to officers in August after he saw two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abuse a man and throw a large rock at him near the same park where the 80-year-old encountered his own attackers.

Leicestershire Police said "organisational learning" to improve logging anti-social behaviour had been identified.

Mr Kohli died the day after the "intense attack" against him in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town near Leicester, for which the boy and girl, now aged 15 and 13 respectively, were both convicted of manslaughter. They are due to be sentenced on Thursday.

Another eyewitness to the attack in August, Linda Haigh, said she warned police about racially motivated problems in the area before Mr Kohli died, and believes he would still be alive had they taken her more seriously.

The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, was walking to Franklin Park on 17 August when he was targeted by the two boys, who were not involved in Mr Kohli's death.

He told the BBC: "One of the boys started picking up stones and throwing them at me... and then the same boy picked up a quite a large rock from the front garden of one of the houses there, and tried to throw it at me."

The man, aged in his 40s, said they shouted at him to "go back to your village".

"It was a throwback to back to the 80s, when it was quite commonplace to be racially abused," he said.

"I was shocked that this kind of behaviour was still around society.

"I've not been in that situation for a long time, maybe 40 years."

It was when one of the boys picked up a wooden fence post and tried to hit the man with it that others - including Mr Kohli and his daughter Susan, and their neighbour Ms Haigh - intervened, according to the man.

He said he was shocked by the "kind of behaviour from such a young age group".

"The racist language, the violence used as well... they were trying to physically hurt me," he added.

"The anger, but more just the vitriol of the whole thing."

Police were called but the pair were not arrested until three days after the death of Mr Kohli, according to the man.

He believes a greater police presence in the area following the assault could have prevented the attack on Mr Kohli two weeks later.

"They should have really looked at putting more presence there, more officers, maybe mobile police cars driving around," he said.

"They could have deterred them. It's obviously very tragic."

During the trial of Mr Kohli's killers, the court was told about an occasion "a week or two" before his death when the girl convicted of his manslaughter was present while other children threw apples at him.

The jury was also shown a video she had filmed on her phone of another Asian man having a water balloon thrown at him and being racially abused.

The BBC has also been told it was reported to police that in July Mr Kohli had stones thrown at him, was spat at and had been racially abused by a group of children after he told them to get off his neighbour's garage roof.

Ch Supt Jonathan Starbuck, of Leicestershire Police, said: "Prior to Mr Kohli's death, police were aware of two reports of anti-social behaviour involving youths in the Franklin Park area which were being investigated.

"Partnership work in the area following Mr Kohli's death did identify further incidents which had not been reported."

He added an investigation conducted by the force, reviewed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, did not identify any "misconduct or missed opportunities which could have prevented Mr Kohli's death".

The attacks have left the victim of the August assault fearful for his safety and that of his elderly parents, who also live in the area.

His father, like Mr Kohli, likes to go for a walk, but since being targeted, he tells him not to, especially in the dark, he told the BBC.

"Even my nephews... you worry about them as well because you just don't know. It's just become more violent," he said.

The two boys involved in the August assault appeared in youth court in Leicester in December charged with racially or religiously aggravated common assault.

They admitted the offences but were later dealt with out of court by way of a deferred youth caution following a referral to the youth justice panel for an out-of-court disposal.

The process aims to divert young people away from the criminal justice system where possible, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Ms Haigh, who was friends with Mr Kohli for more than 20 years, told the BBC she called police when she saw the two boys involved in the August assault pick up the boulder from outside her neighbour's house and throw it at the man.

She said she was aware of similar attacks by young people happening last summer in Braunstone Town and told police it needed to be "nipped in the bud".

"I don't think it was taken serious enough," she said.

"I think they should have acted on it. I feel that we've been totally let down."

Ch Supt Starbuck said: "We continue to monitor the area of Franklin Park and have engaged with the community through a local survey, drop-in centres, engagement with local schools, youth work and proactive policing patrols."

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