Rally for knife victim, 16, as four are held

Hundreds of teenagers marched through north London yesterday to protest against knife culture after the murder at the weekend of a 16-year-old boy in a street attack. They passed the home of the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, who has vowed to tackle youth crime, on their way to the spot in Islington where Ben Kinsella was stabbed early on Sunday.

Many of the marchers wore T-shirts bearing the slogans "RIP Ben" and "You're Always In Our Hearts". Four people have been arrested over the killing.

Ben's sister, the former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, said: "I haven't the strength or the energy to say everything I want. This is just another trial and another life lost."

The rally was organised by Ben's friend, Brooke Dunford, who is 16. "He was my angel," she said. "I just couldn't sit around and grieve when this might happen to other people. When is it going to stop? I never thought it would happen to such a good boy. Someone who never had a bad bone in his body.

"If by doing this today I have made even one person rethink taking out a knife then I have done my bit. That would be one more person who is going back home to his mum."

Led by a police escort, the demonstrators walked for more than 45 minutes to the spot at the corner of North Road and York Way where Ben died. As they passed, onlookers came out of shops and homes to pay their respects.

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