9:37pm Thursday 3rd July 2008
THE sister of a teenager stabbed to death has called for the re-introduction of national service.
Brooke Kinsella, 25, an actress and drama teacher in Benfleet, said knife amnesties are not enough to tackle street violence and young men should be called-up if they persist in using weapons.
Her brother Ben, 16, died in hospital on Sunday after being stabbed outside a pub in Holloway, North London.
Miss Kinsella, who teaches at the Future Faces Theatre School, based at Appleton School, said: "If these young boys want to pick up a weapon and fight then let them go over to national service and fight for a good cause."
The actress, one of four siblings, revealed her brother had been threatened with a knife once in the past, but had managed to calm the situation down.
She said: "He was scared. He sat down at the time and said, that was the scariest thing', but he just carried on."
In an essay Ben had written, he was the main character who was stabbed, but forgave his killer.
Miss Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in EastEnders, said: "It's six lives that have been taken.
"At the moment I can't bring myself to forgive what they've done to my mum and dad."
She also said her "biggest wish" now is for witnesses to come forward in the hunt for her brother's killer.
Friends and family of Ben have set up a fund and website in his memory to raise awareness of the effects of gun and knife crime.
His grieving relatives have turned to the internet to urge all teenagers to "put down their knives and weapons and think about the pain and suffering they will cause".
The popular GCSE student became the 17th teenager to die violently in the capital this year.
Ben's family, led by Brooke, plan to use donations to the Ben Kinsella fund to hold events to raise the profile of the problem of weapons on the streets.
The website address is www.benkinsella.org.uk Three young men, two aged 18 and one aged 19, are in custody after being arrested by detectives investigating the murder.
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