Ben Kinsella murder trial at CCC

Marked men: Notorious criminal family 'has put a price on the heads of Ben Kinsella's murderers'

By Tom Kelly
 13th June 2009
Daily Mail online

 

The Adams family were so angry about Ben Kinsella's murder they have put 'big money' on the heads of his killers

Ben Kinsella's murderers are living with death threats from one of Britain's most notorious criminal gangs, it emerged today.
The Adams family, who 'run' the north London neighbourhood where the schoolboy lived, is said to have put a bounty on the heads of the feral youths who stabbed him to death in a frenzied attack.
Today, as Michael Alleyne, 18, Juress Kika, 19, and Jade Braithwaite, 20, were jailed for life, the Old Bailey heard that they would be 'marked men' in prison.
The Adams family are involved in violent racketeering and drug trafficking and have been linked to 25 murders.
They have no links to the Kinsella family, but its mob leaders were said to be so horrified by the senseless killing of the 16-year-old in their patch that they put up the reward.
Prosecutor Nicholas Hilliard QC told the court: 'A family known as the Adams family made it known that they weren't happy with a killing on the streets of their area.
'They are a pretty serious family.'
He added the family were making 'inquiries' to hunt down those responsible.
In secret recordings made by police after his arrest Braithwaite told his accomplices: 'The family have got big money down. They have put money on whoever was involved heads.'
He added he was scared because 'the Adams family's right-hand man wants to speak to me.'

 

 

 

Killers: (top , middle , bottom) Jade Braithwaite, 20, Juress Kika, 19, and Michael Alleyne, 18, were jailed for life and told they will serve at least 19 years in jail

Yesterday the court heard that the killers have been served with letters from the prison authorities asking them to raise any concerns or incidents amid fears of retaliation.
Nerida Harford-Bell, defending Braithwaite, said the murderer 'understands he is a marked man.'
She said Braithwaite's mother, grandmother and aunt had either moved or were in the process of moving homes because of fears.
James Nichol, solicitor advocate for Kika, said the letter from the prison authorities was being 'taken seriously.'
The Old Bailey erupted in cheers as the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Brian Barker, sentenced each of the killers to a minimum of 19 years today.

 

Dignified: Ben's sister Brooke who played Kelly Taylor in EastEnders

Ben's sister, Brooke Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in EastEnders, clapped once as the sentences were read out and then kept a dignified silence with the rest of the her family, father George, mother Deborah, and sisters Jade, Georgia and Holly.
But other friends applauded and shouted 'bye bye' and 'enjoy your porridge' as the killers were taken down to the cells.
The taunts prompted Kika and Alleyne to turn and jeer and make gestures at the onlookers. 
An argument also broke out in the public gallery between Ben's friends and a small group of the killers' families, before police officers intervened and ushered them out.
The killers, who all had previous convictions for robbery and drugs offences, stabbed Ben 11 times in five seconds after chasing him down a road near his home in Islington, North London, last year.
They attacked him because believed they had been 'disrespected' in an earlier fight - which Ben was not involved in - that started over a dirty look.
Ben was out celebrating the end of his GCSEs when he was murdered.
He never got to find out that he had passed the exams with a string of A-grades, providing him a springboard he needed to realise his ambition of becoming a graphic designer.
Passing sentence, Judge Barker told the killers: 'Ben Kinsella had in front of him a lifetime of promise and you have taken all that away from him by a brutal, cowardly and totally unjustified attack.
'The background is depressing and all too familiar in these courts. It reflects the futility of carrying and using knives by some young people.
'Your behaviour generates outrage in all right-minded people and your blind and heartless anger defies belief.'

 

Pleased: George and Deborah Kinsella outside the Old Bailey today

He said there was 'no suggestion' Ben had been involved in the trouble preceding the stabbing and was instead trying to get away when he found himself encircled and attacked.
'No attempt was made to help him in any way and not a hint of remorse has been shown by any of you.'
The judge said there was 'no possible excuse' for what happened.
'I can only deduce that in your minds someone had to pay the ultimate price, whoever that might be. What you have done has caused untold anguish,' he said.
'This was a terrible attack and you knew exactly what you were doing and you must take responsibility for your actions.'
The crime was aggravated by the fact that they picked on 'an obviously younger and smaller lone victim', the judge added.
Brooke Kinsella said outside court: 'The sentences are good, but it is little more than Ben lived, so it is not really enough.'
Ben's mother, Deborah, told ITV News she wished the sentences were longer. 'Life should be life' she said.
The Adams family's head mobster, Terry Adams, was finally jailed two years ago for money laundering following a ten-year investigation into his £200million criminal empire.