PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY STABBED AT KINSELLA SCENE
Central News, Press Room, Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, LONDON, EC4. Tel: 020 7236 0116. Pix: 020 7329 2877. Blackfriars Crown Court/jo parkes eMail: news@centralnews.co.uk http://www.CourtNewsUK.co.uk 6 July 2011 actor…1 A 15-year-old thug is facing jail for stabbing a public schoolboy with a screwdriver just yards from where Ben Kinsella was murdered in 2008. The 16-year-old victim was left with a punctured lung following the gang attack in Islington, north London. The south London pupil and two school mates had been rehearsing for a play at the Pleasance Theatre in North Road, when they were approached by two 15-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy. The budding actors told the defendants to leave them alone but the 15-year-old pulled out a blue-handled screwdriver. They saw him ‘flash it around’ and one of the victims was repeatedly punched in the face and later found a scratch from the tool on his back. In a reference to the schoolboys coming from a different area of London, one of the gang member snarled: ‘What are you doing in our ends? F**k off back.’ One of the defendants, aged 14, jumped off his bicycle and yelled: ‘Come on, what you gonna do?’ The others joined in and one threw a traffic cone at an actor before the 15-year-old lunged at the 16-year-old with the screwdriver. After the stabbing the 13-year-old turned to one of the victim’s friends and warned: ‘Do you want to get killed as well?’ The defendants then chased the badly injured 16-year-year-old as he escaped to the Tube. He was treated in hospital for a punctured lung. Ben Kinsella was stabbed 11 times in five seconds as he was out celebrating the end of his GCSEs on June 28, 2008. He had been with friends in Shillibeers Brasserie Bar, on North Road, prior to the attack. His sister, former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, led a successful campaign to raise the minimum sentence for knife murder from 15 to 25 years. The 15-year-old defendant admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray. The other 15-year-old and 13-year-old admitted affray. All three are from the Holloway area. The judge, Mr Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC, adjourned sentence until to August 5. None of the youngsters can be named for legal reasons. ends
