Friends mourn murdered Ben Kinsella
4:25pm Friday 18th July 2008
Friends of murdered teenager Ben Kinsella wore fancy dress to celebrate his life, dressing up in colourful wigs and outsized sunglasses for his funeral.
Ben, 16, the brother of former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, died after he was stabbed in north London during a night out.
Miss Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in the TV soap, pleaded for others to learn from his death and lay down their weapons.
Some of Ben's friends also turned up at St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, in Islington, north London, in T-shirts bearing anti-knife crime slogans.
Ben's close friend, Brooke Dunford, 16, was among the first to arrive at the church, which is not far from where the teenager was murdered. She said: "He was a funny, bright boy. He wouldn't have wanted everyone to wear black."
She laid a bunch of flowers outside the entrance of the austere red-brick church with a note that read: "The most saddest day of my life, Ben, when I lost you. I will hold you in my heart forever, I love you, you hottie."
Ben was stabbed several times in York Way, Islington, after a fight in a bar spilled out on to the streets on June 29.
His friend Louis Robson, 16, the son of Birds Of A Feather actress Linda Robson, was with him as he died.
In the following days, up to 400 protesters marched along Upper Street in Islington to the scene of the killing to demand an end to knife crime.
Miss Kinsella, 24, said: "Now truly is the time to stand up and put an end to this. Please, please let us learn from Ben and every other child that has been stolen from us."