Two of Ben Kinsella’s killers ‘bid for freedom’ after murdering teenager whose ex-EastEnders actress sister Brooke set up charity in his honour

Two of the killers of teenager Ben Kinsella, whose former EastEnders actor sister Brooke has set up a charity in his honour, have made a bid to avoid prison.

Juress Kika, 35, from Islington, north London, and Jade Braithwaite, 36, from Bow, east London, will reportedly be able to walk freely within a few weeks.

They, along with Michael Alleyne, 34, also from Islington, were sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years in 2009 for stabbing a 16-year-old boy to death in Islington in June the previous year.

Mr Kinsella was attacked by three men as he walked home after a night out at the pub with friends to celebrate the end of his GCSE exams.

A friend of Braithwaite’s, then 19, had previously had an argument with one of the teenager’s friends.

Braithwaite then brought in two accomplices, both aged 18, as backup to avenge the perceived disrespect.

But the Parole Board will decide whether he should be moved to an open prison (a low-security facility for inmates considered low risk) at a hearing on Nov. 27.

And the board had already recommended such transfer of accomplice Kika in June this year.

Juress Kika (pictured), 35, from Islington, north London, and Jade Braithwaite, 36, from Bow, east London, were able to walk freely within weeks despite stabbing the 16-year-old to death in June 2008.

A friend of Braithwaite’s (pictured), then 19, had an argument with one of the teenager’s friends in the bar. Braithwaite then brought in two accomplices to take revenge

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Kika had been transferred to such a prison ahead of potential release. Sun on Sunday reports.

Meanwhile, Alleyne was not transferred to the independent unit and remained where he was.

Brooke, 42, who played long-running EastEnders character Zoe Slater’s friend Kelly Taylor from 2001 to 2004, founded The Ben Kinsella Trust in 2008.

The charity aims to prevent knife crime by running workshops for young people, providing educational tools and campaigning.

Ms Kinsella has previously said of the organisation: ‘We have worked hard to make a difference.’

But in 2018, on the tenth anniversary of his brother’s death, he told the Daily Mail: ‘[Knife crime] didn’t stop. If anything, the situation has gotten worse.

‘You have moments where you think, ‘What were we thinking when we believed Ben’s death would mark a point of change?’

In the same interview he said of his brother’s killers: ‘I don’t like to think about them.

‘But as much as I hate to think of them getting out, we’ve worked with many families who never got justice. We were lucky in that respect.’

When he spoke to this publication, they were more than halfway through their 19-year minimum sentence.

‘We thought we were lucky at the time. “They got a good stretch,” he said.

‘But they’ll still be young when they come out. They have time to meet people, raise a family, do things Ben would never do. It’s hard, it’s really hard.’

His family is understood to be aware of the latest developments in his brother’s case.

Mr. Kinsella’s murder shocked the country at the time, partly because of his youth and background and partly because of his sister’s fame.

His sister was well-known through her role in EastEnders, and the Kinsella family were part of a close-knit and influential community.

They, along with Michael Alleyne (pictured), 34, also from Islington, were sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years in 2009 for the murder of Mr Kinsella.

His victims’ sister Brooke Kinsella (pictured on ITV chat show Lorraine in 2023) has been campaigning against knife crime since her brother’s death

One of the young friends who hugged Ben when he died was the son of Birds Of A Feather actress Linda Robson.

Mr Kinsella, a popular, bright student from Islington who wanted to become a graphic designer, had just finished his exams on the night of his death and had gone out with friends to celebrate.

He never found out his results but he passed all his GCSEs and got two A*s, two A’s, four B’s and a C.

An argument broke out between a member of the group and Braithwaite’s friend, Osman Özdemir.

The group, which set out to return home at 02:00 at night, realized that they were being followed.

Some of the group began to run, but Mr. Kinsella did not, probably because he had not been involved in any previous fights.

He was stepped on, kicked, punched to the ground and stabbed multiple times.

Two blows penetrated his lungs and another fractured a rib before piercing his heart, some wounds nearly 7 inches deep.

CCTV footage shown during the trial of Ben’s attackers showed him staggering away from the scene, supported by his friend Louis Robson.

He was pronounced dead at 7.24 in the morning, by which time his family had rushed to his bedside.

When his family finally went through his belongings, they found a letter he had written for his GCSE class to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown about knife crime.

His concerns about this issue stemmed from personal experience after he was threatened with stabbing while preventing the theft of a mountain bike.

He also wrote creative writing imagining his death from a stabbing.

A Prison Service spokesman said: ‘All prisoners must undergo a strict risk assessment before moving to open conditions and we will not hesitate to return them to closed prisons if they break the rules.’

The Ben Kinsella Foundation and the Department of Justice have been contacted for comment.