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Two of the murderers of teenager Ben Kinsella, whose ex-EastEnders actress sister Brooke set up a charity in his honour, have made bids for freedom from prison. Juress Kika, 35, from Islington, north London, and Jade Braithwaite, 36, from Bow, east London, could walk free in a matter of weeks, it has been reported. They, along with Michael Alleyne, 34, also from Islington, were jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years in 2009 for stabbing the 16-year-old to death in Islington in June the year before. Mr Kinsella had been walking home from a night at the pub with friends celebrating the end of his GCSEs when he was attacked by the three men. A friend of Braithwaite, then 19, had earlier got into an argument with one of the teen's friends. Braithwaite later brought his two accomplices, both then 18, as back-up to seek revenge for the perceived disrespect. But the Parole Board is set to decide if he should be moved to an open prison - a low-security facility for inmates considered low-risk - at a hearing on November 27. And the panel has already recommended, in June this year, that his co-conspirator Kika be transferred in this way. The Ministry of Justice has now confirmed Kika has already been transferred to such a jail ahead of a potential release, The Sun on Sunday reports. Alleyne, meanwhile, has not been referred to the independent body and remains in situ. Brooke, 42, who played long-time EastEnders character Zoe Slater's friend Kelly Taylor from 2001 until 2004, set up The Ben Kinsella Trust in 2008. The charity aims to curb knife crime through delivering workshops to young people, providing education tools and undertaking campaign work. Ms Kinsella has previously said of the organisation: 'We've worked so hard to make a difference.' But she told the Daily Mail in 2018, on the tenth anniversary of her brother's death: '[Knife crime] hasn't stopped. If anything, it has got worse. 'You do have moments where you think, what were we thinking, believing that Ben's death would mark a changing point?' She said of her brother's killers in the same interview: 'I don't like to think about them. 'But while I hate to think about them getting out, we've worked with a lot of families who haven't had any justice at all. In that regard, we were lucky.' They were more than halfway through their 19-year minimum sentences when she spoke to this publication. 'At the time we thought we were lucky. They got a decent stretch, 'she said. 'But they will still be young when they come out. They have time to meet people, have families, do all the things that Ben will never do. That is hard, really hard.' It is understood her family is aware of the latest developments in her brother's case. Mr Kinsella's killing shocked the country at the time, partly because of his youth and background and partly because of his sister's celebrity. His sister was well-known thanks to her role on EastEnders and the Kinsella family was part of a tight-knit and influential community. One of the teenage friends who cradled Ben as he died was the son of Birds Of A Feather actress Linda Robson. On the night of his death, Mr Kinsella, a popular, bright student from Islington who wanted to be a graphic designer, had just finished his exams and went out with friends to celebrate. He never got to know his results but he passed all his GCSEs, receiving two A*s, two As, four Bs and one C. There was an altercation between one of their group and a man named Osman Ozdemir, a friend of Braithwaite. At 2am, when the group set off to return home, they realised they were being followed. Several of the group started to run - but Mr Kinsella did not, possibly because he had not been involved with the earlier fracas. He was set upon, kicked and punched to the ground and stabbed repeatedly. Two thrusts entered his lungs and another split a rib before puncturing his heart, with some of the wounds nearly 7in deep. CCTV footage shown during the trial of Ben's attackers showed him staggering from the scene, supported by friend Louis Robson. He was pronounced dead at 7.24 am, by which time his family had rushed to his bedside. When his family eventually went through his things, they found a letter he had written to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown about knife crime for his GCSE coursework. His worries about it came from personal experience, after he was threatened with stabbing when he prevented the theft of a mountain bike. He had also written a creative writing piece imagining his death from stabbing. The Ben Kinsella Trust and the Ministry of Justice have been contacted for comment.
