London, Aug 13 (PTI) The seven-year jail term of a teenager who was found guilty of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Sen Kohli following an “unprovoked” assault was reviewed on Wednesday, with the Court of Appeal concluding it was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive.
Lady Justice Macur, Justice Cutts and Justice Murray ruled after the UK Attorney General’s Office had referred the sentence of the 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named as he is a minor, to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme last month.
The appeal court judges upheld Justice Mark Turner’s ruling from a televised hearing at Leicester Crown Court on June 5.
They said the judge had “conscientiously executed” the necessary sentencing exercise and conveyed his remarks to the offender and co-defendant. “We do not find that the sentence was unduly lenient,” they said.
It follows a detailed review of the case by the UK’s Solicitor General to see if it met the threshold for a review.
“After undertaking a detailed review of the case, the Solicitor General concluded the sentence of the 15-year-old boy could be referred to the Court of Appeal. The court will determine if the sentence is increased or not,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said back in July.
A 13-year-old girl also convicted of manslaughter over the attack in a park near Leicester, eastern England, in September last year had escaped a custodial sentence.
Justice Turner had described the attack on Kohli as he walked his dog as “wicked” after a jury had convicted the boy, referred to as D1, for punching and kicking Kohli and the girl, dubbed D2, for filming and encouraging the attack. Being minors, neither was named for legal reasons, and the judge stated that he was bound by law to consider their age in the sentence he handed down.
Addressing the girl, he noted that a custodial sentence would do “more harm than good” as he imposed strict conditions on her as part of a three-year youth rehabilitation order, including a six-month curfew. The girl’s sentence was not referred to the Court of Appeal as the threshold for a review had not been met.
Earlier, a trial at Leicester Crown Court heard how Kohli was racially abused when the boy pushed, kicked and punched him, and the girl encouraged him by recording parts of the attack while laughing.
Kohli’s daughter, Susan, who found her father lying on the ground following the attack, said it was hard to find forgiveness for the pair, regardless of their ages.
“They chose to attack a defenceless pensioner and for that I cannot give them any of my sympathy,” she said, following the sentencing. PTI AK ZH ZH
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