Boy accused of park murder has ‘difficulty keeping track of lies’, jury told

A 15-year-old boy alleged to have racially abused a pensioner before slapping him to the face with his shoe and causing him fatal injuries in a park has “difficulty keeping track” of his lies, a murder trial has heard.

Jurors were told the teenager lied in the account he told police and had to “change his story” because he did not know that a 13-year-old girl had filmed parts of the alleged attack.

Leicester Crown Court heard that Bhim Kohli, 80, sustained a spinal injury and fractured ribs in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year, when he was allegedly kicked and punched on the ground by the boy while the girl videoed the attack and laughed.

Both children cannot be named because of their ages.

The boy was cross-examined in the witness box by prosecution KC Harpreet Sandhu on Thursday and looked towards the public gallery, where his mother was sitting, several times while he gave evidence.

The boy had previously told the jury that he and Mr Kohli had been in a “tussle” after his slider fell off and the elderly man had tried to grab the shoe, causing the pensioner to fall to his knees before the boy slapped him out of “instinct”.

Mr Sandhu told the defendant that the story about the tussle was “not true” because in a video clip of the slapping assault found on the girl’s My Eyes Only folder on Snapchat, the boy was not wearing any sliders.

The prosecutor said to the boy: “You said that Mr Kohli went to pick up the slider that was not on your foot. You said you went for it at the same time – that’s how you both ended up pulling on the same slider.

“And somehow, as you were pulling on this slider, Mr Kohli went from standing to being on the ground. Your story about one slider coming off when you stepped back is not true.

“Your slider did not come off because you did not step back at all. Both of your sliders had come off your feet before you slapped Mr Kohli to the face. They must have done because we can’t see you wearing any sliders, can we?

“Did you take your sliders off to make it easier to run towards Mr Kohli? Did you run to him so you could be violent to him?”

The boy denied the allegations.

Mr Sandhu said: “You went to Mr Kohli and used violence on him, didn’t you? That’s why he is on the ground, isn’t it? There was no tussle for the slider, was there?”

The boy replied: “There was.”

The court was told that in a statement, which was given to the prosecution a month before his trial began, the boy said that he “lunged for the slider and Mr Kohli hit the defendant over the head with it”, the court heard.

In court, the boy admitted he lied about Mr Kohli hitting him.

“It is different because you are making things up, aren’t you? When you make things up it is difficult to remember the lies you have told … you are having difficulty keeping track of your lies.

“You have given us two different versions of what Mr Kohli did with the slider. Have you given us two different versions because you can’t remember the lies you have been telling?

“Why, in this important document, have you said that Mr Kohli hit you to the head with the slider?”

The boy said: “I’m not sure.”

The jury heard that the boy told police that Mr Kohli hit him and had “clenched fists” when he turned to the defendant, which he told the court was a lie.

Mr Sandhu said: “You told a lie to make him out to be aggressive.”

The prosecutor asked the boy: “When you gave this version in your prepared statement you did not know, did you, that the police had three clips from (the girl’s) phone?

“It was played to you for the first time … during the interviews, and when you prepared your statement you did not know that the clip existed, did you?”

The boy replied: “No.”

Mr Sandhu said: “You had to change your story, didn’t you? You have made up a new story to fit with what we can see in the clips from (the girl’s) phone. If you wanted to co-operate with the police, why did you lie to them?”

The boy replied: “I’m not sure.”

The defendant denied that the 13-year-old girl, who was aged 12 at the time, “encouraged him to be violent” towards Mr Kohli.

The court heard that Mr Kohli died from his injuries in hospital the day after the alleged attack.

The trial continues.