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On The Murder of Ben Kinsella

16/10/15 00:36 Filed in: Crime

My blog post about the 2008 murder of Ben Kinsella, younger brother of British actress Brooke Kinsella.

In June 2008, Ben Kinsella the younger brother of British actress Brooke Kinsella (of EastEnders fame) was out celebrating having finished his school exams (GCSEs) with his friends when he was brutally stabbed to death. There had been an altercation in the pub that Ben had been at earlier that evening that did not involve him. Even though it had not involved him in any way a gang of three men came back to try and find those who had “disrespected” them. Not being able to find the target of their anger they went looking for anyone they could find. Ben crossed the road to avoid them, but they came after him anyway. Ben was heard to say to his would-be murderers "What are you coming over to me for? I haven't done anything”. Despite being completely innocent and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time they kicked him to the ground and stabbed him eleven times, he died later in hospital.

Brooke Kinsella and her family later setup The Ben Kinsella Trust, primarily to promote knife-crime awareness and to "educate children of all ages of the consequences of knife crime and the devastating effect that it has on families".

Despite having killed an innocent boy, neither they nor their families would show any kind of guilt or remorse. In fact quite the opposite, the accused's family would try to intimidate and bully Ben’s family, even singing ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ as they walked by and demanding the Kinsellas showed more “respect”.

All three men Braithwaite, Kika and Alleyne were eventually found guilty and sentenced in 2009 to life with a minimum of 19 to be served, before they have a chance of parole. A sentence many see as too lenient, a life sentence should mean a life sentence they say. Something I am in full agreement with. I do not believe in a death penalty as that is too swift, it is a worse punishment if they have to stagnate behind bars for the rest of their lives, also I believe when you execute someone you are just making yourself as bad as they are, you are bringing yourself down to their level.

Unfortunately, even though we are now six years on, life still does not mean life in Britain. An example of this was the murder of the single mother Kay Diamond in late February 2015 by her boyfriend which tragically lead to her sixteen-year-old daughter Rachelle Owen committing suicide less than two months later, by stepping out in front of a train, because she just wanted to be with her mother. Despite him having a record of domestic abuse, he too was only given 19 years.

Thanks largely to Brooke Kinsella’s campaigning, sentencing for knife crime has become a little stricter. The reason I think the killer of Miss Diamond didn’t get longer was because he didn’t use a knife or a gun. He kicked her, punched her and beat her with a metal chain (possibly a dog lead) in a brutal and prolonged attack. She was found naked face down in a pool of her own blood, with bruising all over her body including the genitals and was found to have bleeding on the brain. So, this is something I still think needs changed, murder is murder no matter what your weapon of choice. Stabbing someone is no worse than slowly beating someone to death if anything it is probably a quicker way to die. Therefore, I believe murder sentencing should be the same no matter what the weapon used.

I recently read the book ‘Why Ben?’ by Brooke Kinsella that not only details the killing itself but is an emotional look at how his elder sister and their family dealt with their grief. It also details Brooke Kinsella’s anti-knife campaigning and her research into various sentencing and punishment methods both in the UK and U.S. It was a book that I was pleasantly surprised to find that I couldn’t put down and probably got through quicker than any other book I’ve ever read. I also found it inspirational. I definitely recommend everyone reads it.

Wikipedia article on the murder: Link
The Ben Kinsella Trust website: Link
Why Ben? book on Amazon: Link

Tags: Murder, Crime