Brooke's tears at murder trial
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Brooke Kinsella wept yesterday as she watched CCTV footage of the chase leading to her little brother’s death.
The ex-EastEnders star struggled to control her emotions in court as The Old Bailey jury saw images of 16-year-old Ben collapsing in the arms of his friends after being kicked and knifed 11 times.
Brooke, who played Kelly Taylor in the BBC1 soap, was supported in court by her parents and younger sister Jade.
Nicholas Hilliard QC, prosecuting, said Ben and some of his friends had left Shillibeers pub in Islington, North London shortly before 2am after a bar fight broke out, but his group were chased by the accused.
He told the court: “They managed to catch up with the deceased, knocked him from his feet at the rear of a parked van and, as he lay on the ground, launched a lethal attack upon him in which a total of 11 stab wounds were inflicted.”
One of the stab wounds was to the heart. Two went into his lungs and damaged an artery.
Mr Hilliard said: “The stab wound to the heart was delivered with such force that it caused splitting to the bone on the front of one of his ribs.
“There is no surviving an attack of that kind.”
The accused – Jade Braithwaite, 20, Michael Alleyne, 18 and Juress Kika, 19 – sat impassively as the case was outlined against them. All three deny murder.
The trial continues.