A tragedy which changes nothing

Was justice done?

The three thugs who killed 16 year old Ben Kinsella were today sentenced to life in prison with a requirement that they serve a minimum of 19 years before they can be considered for parole. As Ben's sister, the actress Brooke Kinsella pointed out, nineteen years is only three years longer than young Ben was on this earth, before these animals took his life.

Nineteen years is less than half my life, and I consider myself still young, given the killers' own ages, the eldest of them will be thirty nine when he is eligible for parole, certainly young enough to take more young lives and destroy other families.

If there is any consolation, the brutes were unwise enough to take the life of a much loved child of a large and well connected East End family, and are therefore guaranteed an uncomfortable time in prison.

Ben Kinsella

Whether it was the size of his family, his sister's status as a minor TV celebrity together with family friends, such as actresses Linda Robson and Gillian Tailforth, or the dreadful unprovoked nature of the innocent young boy's murder, but Ben's killing caused a significant reaction when it happened last year.

Hundreds of teenagers marched through London

Last July hundreds of London Teenagers, all wearing white in memory of Ben, marched through London demanding an end to knife crime. An optimist, might hope that such a reaction my have some effect upon the nightmare our society is becoming, however, the almost total absence amongst the marchers of non white faces, or indeed politicians (who would have been there in force had the races of victim and killers been reversed) suggests that such hopes may be futile.

Meanwhile our government continues with the crazy policies which are adding daily to the violence and crime on our streets. How many more children must die before someone with power to change things admits how wrong they have been?