Friends spoke of his caring and comical nature, adding he was "full of energy" and that he was "the life and soul of his class".

[7] Before his death, Kinsella had become concerned about knife crime after being threatened[1] whilst working part-time at Zebedee's Cafe in Islington, where he prevented the theft of a mountain bike.

He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of his English GCSE coursework, urging him to stamp out knife crime and suggesting parenting classes, curfews and youth clubs as possible solutions.

[citation needed] On 28 June 2008, Kinsella was out celebrating the end of his GCSE exams with friends in Shillibeers Brasserie Bar (now called 'The Depot N7') near Caledonian Road tube station[11] During this time, an altercation broke out between his friend Alfie and a man named Osman Ozdemir over the phrase "What are you looking at?

"[11] Having been separated by a door supervisor, a friend of Ozdemir, Jade Braithwaite, was heard saying phrases including "Tell your boy if he wants trouble, I've got my tool on me and it will open you up",[11] "I'll stab people up",[12] "If you want it, I'll give it to you"[13] and "Don't you know who I am?".

"[11] Moments later, Kinsella was kicked and punched to the ground, receiving 11 stab wounds to the chest and back in a period witnesses testified to be only a five-second duration.

CCTV footage showed Kinsella stagger from the scene where he was supported by his friend Louis, the son of Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson.

After Kinsella's murder, an estimated 400 teenagers joined a demonstration to highlight concerns over the UK's growing knife crime culture.

16-year-old Brooke Dunford organised the event via Facebook; they marched from Islington Town Hall to the site of Kinsella's murder at the junction of North Road and York Way, passing by Shillibeers nightclub in silence.

"[4] Kinsella's funeral was attended by around 1000 mourners including public figures such as Michelle Ryan, Gillian Taylforth and James Alexandrou.

[3][22] The three men convicted of Kinsella's murder were alleged members of the Market Massiv' street gang, which was based about 100 meters from the Shillibeers Brasserie Bar in the Market Estate flat complex, and engaged in low-level drug dealing as well as arranging illegal dogfights.

[23][19] The trio were also feuding with another street gang from the Andover Estate in Finsbury Park, who had pistol-whipped Alleyne during a previous confrontation over a verbal dispute.

With a height of 6'6",[23] Braithwaite had hoped to become a professional goalkeeper[24] and played in an Islington youth league until its closure when he was 14.

[24] Prior to the murder, Braithwaite had a reprimand for possession of cannabis and was convicted of attempted theft of a laptop computer from a fellow teenager.

[23] Alleyne had a criminal record including shoplifting, robbery, motor vehicle theft and drug dealing of crack cocaine and heroin.

Kika was on the run from police for a stabbing and robbery incident over a drugs argument nine days prior to the murder.

[15] However, 72 spots of Kinsella's blood were later identified on a pair of Alleyne's jeans that he handed to his sister to dispose of, and traces were also found on Kika's belt.

[citation needed] Both Alleyne and Kika answered "no comment" to all questions asked during their police interviews.

Aware that his cousin Kellie was going to give evidence against him, Alleyne wrote a threatening letter to her from jail, reading: To Slag a.k.a.

[15] Braithwaite also claimed that a friend of Alleyne had punched him in the cells of the Old Bailey whilst he was handcuffed to a wall.

This resulted in a new 25-year knife murder tariff through the Schedule 21 Review of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which was relevant to the sentencing in this case.

[41] At the Old Bailey on 12 June 2009, Judge Brian Barker QC sentenced Braithwaite, Alleyne and Kika each to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years.

Passing sentence, the judge described the attack on Kinsella as "brutal, cowardly and totally unjustified", adding that "your blind and heartless anger that night defies belief."

[42] He also condemned them for picking on "an obviously younger and smaller lone victim" and for their total lack of remorse.

[44] Angry scenes also took place between the victim's and defendants' families[43] after one of the accused's mothers spat[45] on Kinsella's cousin Sam whilst shouting "I love you, baby."

"[46] The UK's Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw agreed to carry out a review of knife crime sentencing laws shortly afterwards.

[48] A 50 minute documentary titled My Brother Ben: Brooke Kinsella's Story was aired on BBC One on 16 June 2009.

It followed Brooke Kinsella's investigation of the underlying causes of knife crime during the period from her brother's death to the end of the court case.

Brooke also travelled to New York to see prisons using short, sharp shock treatments to rehabilitate young offenders.

"[50] After agreeing on request by the Kinsella family and due to the public outrage surrounding the case, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced the minimum tariff for murders committed with a knife would rise from 15 to 25 years, and this happened in 2010.