Hate Crime Focus - The Death of Bhim Kohli
Bhim Kohli was killed on September 1st, 2024, at approximately 6:30 pm., while walking his dog in a park in Leicestershire, close to his home and allotment. Mr Kohli [1](1) was subjected to a "seven-and-a-half minute period of continuing aggression" that included racist abuse.
One of the perpetrators, a fifteen-year-old boy, had slapped Mr Kohli in the face with a shoe. A thirteen-year-old girl provided encouragement while filming the assault on her phone.
The attack left Mr Kohli with three broken ribs and other fractures, but it was a fracture to his spinal cord that proved fatal. Mr Kohli died in hospital the day after he was attacked.
Earlier this year, on the 29th of May, the Prosecutor had told the sentencing hearing that there had been “deliberate humiliation” [2](2) of Mr Kohli during the attack, enabled by a background of “bullying and antagonising” by other young people in the area. A campaign that his assailants must have been aware of.
The girl had taken a photograph of Mr Kohli the week before the incident but denied using it to “target” him. Police had also recovered a video from the same phone of a group of young people “confronting” another victim who was hit in the back of the head and called a “P*** bastard”.
It is always the intention of a perpetrator(s) to ‘humiliate’ their victims. Intimidation, degradation, and dehumanisation are also common components of any hate crime incident. Victims are often the focus of attack by groups and are usually subject to more than one incident. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997[3](3) provides the following definition: ‘Harassment is conduct that causes alarm or distress, and a course of conduct must involve such conduct on at least two occasions.’
Online headlines subsequently reflected the sentiments expressed by the victim's family, echoing the “unanswerable” moderation of the sentencing; seven years for manslaughter and a three-year rehabilitation order. “It needs to change, and I'm hoping we're able to try and get that change to hold the young offenders accountable for what they do."
I'm unsure from the little I've read about the case if the Kohlis feel that longer sentences would provide an effective deterrent. And no one knows at this stage if revising legislation would help cushion their grief, but one thing is almost certain: the application of harsher punishments for similar incidents will not result in a lessening of prejudicial thinking or the evolution or development of systems tasked with reducing risk and public protection.
Seventeen years earlier, less than ten miles from where Mr Kohli walked his final steps, Fiona and Francesca Pilkington ended their lives after enduring years of ableist harassment and ASB. For more than 10 years, the Pilkington's home was targeted by groups of up to 16 young people, with stones, eggs, and flour. The police had recorded at least 33 incidents between November 1997 and October 2007.
An independent investigation concluded that Leicestershire Constabulary's inability to identify vulnerabilities[4] (4) and provide ‘a cohesive and effective approach to the anti-social behaviour the family suffered’ was central to their failure to protect the family.
There were alarming failures to identify the incidents as hate crimes rather than ASB by officers dealing with reports in isolation, using an unstructured approach; Police officers misused systems that could have shown the exact extent of harassment experienced by the family and the location, where the family lived, was not considered an ASB hotspot, so did not benefit from proactive responses.
Consistent Systematic Failure
Six years later, in Bristol, Bijan Ebrahimi [5](4), a disabled Iranian refugee, was murdered outside his flat after reporting death threats and racist abuse to police for seven years. Mr Ebrahimi had made 73 phone calls reporting crimes such as criminal damage, death threats, and an arson attack in 2007, but Bristol police failed to record a crime on at least 40 of those occasions.
The independent investigation into this death found that he had been treated "consistently differently from his neighbours" in what could be "racial bias, conscious or unconscious”. The report also found there was "consistent systematic failure" by call handlers, who violated standards on recording crime, identifying targeted hate incidents, and ‘flagging’ repeat victims.
More recently, two 16-year-olds [6](6) were sentenced to life sentences at Manchester Crown Court after murdering 16-year-old Brianna Ghey. Brianna agreed to meet the two in a park near Warrington on the day of the murder and was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife, February 11, 2023.
The perpetrators were sentenced in February last year. The CPS successfully pushed for the sentence to acknowledge that her murder was partially motivated by hostility toward her Transgender identity. Evidence, including WhatsApp messages that had used dehumanising language, demonstrated that the murder was a hate crime.
Most years in this country see a death motivated by an aspect of someone's identity; however, most cases go unrecognised as hate crimes. For a crime to be prosecuted as a hate crime, there must be evidence of hostility or prejudice based on one (or more) of the protected characteristics. As a teenager, Ghey was diagnosed with ADHD and autism, which her mother said impaired her ability to identify dangerous situations. In my view, disability was almost an equal factor in this murder.
Trust and Confidence
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry[7] (7) was the precursor to the hate crime agenda as we know it today. The report made 70 recommendations covering 12 thematic areas, including-
- ‘…close co-operation between police services and local government and other agencies, including in particular housing and education departments…’
- ‘…the amendment of the National Curriculum aimed at valuing cultural diversity and preventing racism… ‘
- ‘… police services, local government, and relevant agencies should specifically consider implementing community and local initiatives aimed at promoting cultural diversity and addressing racism and the need for focused, consistent support for such initiatives...’
Some of these recommendations became statute, encompassed in the introduction of the Equality Act in 2010.
Mr Kohli’s daughter has been quoted as saying that other neighbours had previously been subject to assaults and racial abuse, reporting two incidents to police. The park was well-known for ASB.[8]
A statement from Leicestershire Police said that “Organisational learning was identified in relation to logging and tagging incidents of anti-social behaviour. As part of our continual improvements in this area, discussion began at the start of 2024, leading to a new system which is now in place.”
This brief article demonstrates that there are systems that work and there are systems that don’t. A sincere commitment, innovation, bold decision-making, and a critical examination of our organisational values and cultures must occur to prevent more fatal failures.
Legislation can be dynamic and robust, but remains as effective as its operatives and, concerningly, goes largely unimplemented, while within the criminal justice system and other sectors, outcomes and levels of trust and confidence for victims of hate crime remain alarmingly low.
Resolve facilitates a unique opportunity available to its members in the form of a 3 or 5-step hate crime offer that embeds the principles of victim-centred case management. Starting with policies and procedures and including training, implementation, and assessment.
Further information on this offer can be provided by writing to Sharon McLoughlin, Head of Professional Practice,
Guest Writer: Marc Lorenzi Hate Crime Associate Lead
[1] Boy and girl sentenced for killing of pensioner Bhim Kohli
[2] Teenage boy sentenced to seven years' custody for killing 80-year-old dog walker in park
[3] Protection from Harassment Act 1997
[4] Fiona Pilkington officers face misconduct proceedings
[5] Police watchdog criticised over investigation into murder of disabled refugee
[6] Two teenagers jailed for life for the murder of Brianna Ghey
[7] BBC NEWS | UK | Lawrence: Key recommendations
[8] Teenagers’ sentences ‘do not reflect severity of crime’, say Bhim Kohli’s family
