Ahead of 15th anniversary of Ben Kinsella’s murder, his family issue new tribute and picture.

THE FAMILY of murdered teenager Ben Kinsella have vowed to never give up the fight against knife crime.
Speaking ahead of the 15th anniversary of Ben’s death, they also urged people across the country to “put down their knives.”
Tributes to Ben, who was stabbed to death on June 29, 2008, were led by his parents, Deborah and George, and his sister Brooke Kinsella who has gone on to form the Ben Kinsella Trust , a charity that educates young people about the dangers of knife crime.
Brooke, a former star of the BBC soap Eastenders, also issued a new picture of her and Ben taken when they were growing up.
Brooke, whose son Ben celebrates his first birthday tomorrow (Thursday), said “I was lucky enough that my brother was one of my best friends. I could never put into words what Ben meant to us as a family and what was taken from us that night. He was only here for a short while but he was so very special to us and I am grateful for every day that I got to spend with him.
“It’s unbelievable to me that I haven’t seen my little brother for 15 years, as it sometimes feels like just yesterday I heard him laugh or make a cheeky comment. We will love and remember Ben forever and I am so proud of the legacy he has left behind.
“Today, 15 years on, I am still so heartbroken at the violent and unnecessary loss of such a beautiful boy and the ripple effect it had on so many. I am thinking of my family, Ben’s friends, the wife he might have loved, and the children he might have had.
“I am even more heartbroken that we haven’t succeeded in making this world a safer place, a place where sixteen year old boys can make it home to their beds. It can be hard to keep going but I made a promise to my brother all those years ago and I will do all I can to keep it. We will never give up in the fight against knife crime.”
Ben’s parents, Deborah and George said: “We would like to say that it gets easier with time, but it truly doesn’t. We will always wonder what he would be doing in his life now, who his wife would have been and we would have loved and adored our grandchildren he would have given us! Instead we go to the cemetery to visit our Ben and the grief is still as strong as it was from the day he was taken from us, it never goes away.
“We set up the Ben Kinsella Trust with the legacy and art work he left us in his young life, to educate children about their choices, the consequences and the devastation knife crime brings. Ben was always helping others and we think he would be ever so proud of all the work that has been done in his name and the children he has and continues to reach. We will always love and deeply miss him very much.”
Patrick Green, the CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust, said “knife crime remains one of the country’s biggest challenges”/
“Our biggest concern is the continuing rise in knife crime across the country,” he said “It has risen by 46% in the last decade and is spreading like an epidemic.
“Once we would have considered it a big city problem, but that is changing. It is now escalating quicker in towns and areas which 10 years ago were immune to knife crime. The increase in knife crime is fuelled by drugs and gangs and county lines, “Social issues such as poverty, deprivation, and lack of opportunities for social mobility make it easier for criminals to target vulnerable young people.
“Machetes and large knives are the weapons often used in these situations. These knives are easily obtained online and with little or no age restrictions in place to prevent them falling into the wrong hands. Social media also plays its part in helping to glamorise and normalise knife carrying. It desensitises young people to violence, who soon see it as a normal part of life.
“It saddens us to see that so many young people still believe the myth that carrying a knife will protect them. This dangerous myth is perpetuated by what they see and hear online.” Explaining the concerns Ben had over the issue he continued: “Three months before he was murdered in an unprovoked attack, Ben wrote to PM Gordon Brown calling for more protection for young people against violence. If anything, his letter is more relevant today than it was when he wrote it. That is why the work of the Ben Kinsella Trust remains critically important in tackling knife crime. Education is the catalyst for change, it provides a strong counter narrative to misleading information that young people encounter on social media, and it provides them with positive ways to stay safe “
Issuing a direct message to those who carry knives Mr Green added: “If you carry a knife, you are not carrying a weapon which will protect you. You are carrying an item which will bring misery and heartbreak to you and those around you.
“The damage done by knife crime is unrepairable and far reaching. One decision can change your life forever, so make that a positive one and don’t carry a knife.”