Kids who killed pensioner sentenced, Child Q, social media distabilising Africa & other stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shouldn't have missed this week - curated by Melissa Sigodo

Rest in peace Bhim Kohli. You deserved better.

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Coming to you a bit later in the day as I wanted to share my thoughts on the Bhim Kohli case where two teenagers were sentenced after being found guilty of manslaughter. The 15-year-old boy who racially abused and attacked 80-year-old Bhim Kohli was sentenced to seven years in custody, while the girl who encouraged it avoided jail, only receiving a six-month curfew and rehabilitation order. Concluding the case, the judge said he did not find the attack to be racist but that when the slur was used, it was a “very lazy and hurtful insult.”

Bhim Kohli

After reading what happened to Bhim Kohli, I have no doubt that each blow that struck him was supposed to embody how those vile racist words were intended to feel. The use of racist slurs such as P**i or n****r has always gone hand in hand with fear, violence and death for decades, but when the justice system is confronted with these cases, that dangerous evil gets reduced down to “lazy and hurtful.” Instead of considering the clear and basic connection between racism and brutality that people of colour have had to endure, this hateful ideology is treated as though it is separate from the physical harm inflicted on Black and Brown bodies, leaving it exempt from consequence, only deserving of a footnote of acknowledgement, just to be completely disregarded in the end.

As for the teenagers who took a vulnerable man’s life, they’ll have a chance to go on to live theirs. But for those who have to pick up the pieces, the words uttered by the judge are another hurtful insult that puts into perspective how Black and Brown people’s lives are minimised, devalued and ignored even when they are right there lying motionless on the ground. But the laziest part of all is that the deliberate lack of desire to understand and admit the role of racism will continue to uphold racist systems. After going through the grief and anguish of seeking fairness, it’s people of colour who are forced to keep moving forward with broken lives burdened by the heaviest weight of injustice.

Rest in peace Bhim Kohli. You deserved better.

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Bhim Kohli

A 15-year-old boy who racially abused and killed Bhim Kohli who was out walking his dog has been sentenced to seven years in jail. The 13-year-old girl who encouraged it by pointing out the man, filming it on her phone and laughing has avoided jail and has been sentenced to a three-year Youth Rehabilitation Order and a six-month curfew. The judge said he did not believe it was a racist attack despite the boy racially abusing the vulnerable 80-year-old. Read the full story by the BBC.

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Bhim Kohli spoke to officers two weeks before he was killed, telling them he saw two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abuse an Asian man and throw a rock at him in the same park where he was attacked. Read the full story by Katie Thompson and Navtej Johal at the BBC.

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The family of Bhim Kohli say that they are angry and disappointed with the sentencing of the two teens found guilty of manslaughter saying that it did not reflect the severity of the crime. Read the full story by Sophie Robinson at Evening Standard.

Policing

TW: A misconduct hearing into officers who strip searched a 15-year-old schoolgirl known as Child Q while on her period has heard that when she told officers she was menstruating, they said, ‘we are all women here’ and treated her as an adult, and that her intimate parts were exposed during the search. Read the full story by the BBC.

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A Hitchin police officer has been barred from policing after making racist comments where he said to an Asian colleague that they were only hired after 9/11 because of their race. PC Oliver Gobey had also made a racist comment to a member of the public who was also Asian. Read the full story by Louise McEvoy at The Comet.

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Entertainment

Actor Idris Elba has revealed how he hopes to build the “African Odeon” by creating a chain of cinemas across the continent. Speaking at SXSW he expressed wanting a “new generation” to experience cinema as he said there are less than 3000 movie theatres in Africa. Read the full story by Georg Szalai at The Hollywood Reporter.

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Former Great British Bake-Off winner Nadiya Hussain has revealed that her cooking show has not been renewed by the BBC. Taking to Instagram, the star also shared how as a Muslim woman, she experienced “a lot of gaslighting” in the industry. Read the full story by Katie Rosseinsky at The Independent.

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Health

An older brother who ran the London Marathon for his little sister who died from lupus aged 16 is on a mission to complete more major marathons to raise awareness about the invisible disease which disproportionately affects Black women. Read the full story by me for The Source.

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People from minority ethnic backgrounds and those living in poorer areas of England are less likely to receive treatment after being diagnosed with aortic stenosis which restricts blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body - according to a study by researchers at the University of Leicester. Read the full story by Tobi Thomas at The Guardian.

Community

A pensioner whose home was destroyed in a devastating fire has had a GoFundMe launched by locals to help rebuild as she says she recently had to cancel her home insurance due to financial constraints. Jane Moore, 70, who previously worked as a foster carer, saw her windows blown out and her kitchen and bedroom set ablaze. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Read the full story by Hedi Mehrez at Kent Live.

Grenfell

Residents living near Grenfell Tower who were promised their homes would be refurbished after the fire which killed 72 people, are to get £400 compensation for each household for the seven-year delay to the scheme. Residents say the compensation was “nowhere near enough” for what they are enduring ‘living on a building site.’ Read the full story by Lauren Stanley at BBC London.

Home Office

A Nigerian man who runs a successful top security firm which has given services to footballers, senior UK and US politicians as well as a former Nigerian president, has been refused a visa to enter the UK to visit his sister as the Home Office say they don’t believe he’ll leave. Read the full story by Diane Taylor at The Guardian.