Linda Robson fought back tears on Loose Women as she spoke about the upcoming ten-year anniversary of Ben Kinsella’s death.
The 60-year-old’s son, Louis, was with Ben when he was stabbed to death on a London street in 2008.
Ben was just 16 years old.
Linda said: “It will be ten years on the 29th of June this year… they went out on the 28th with a group of friends who had all finished their GCSEs and were pleased to get it all behind them.
“They were going to a place in Islington. It was a controlled environment, security there, my husband took Louis to the event and was going to pick him up afterwards.
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“There was a bit of an argument with a couple of boys earlier in the night, nothing to do with our kids at all, and then as Ben left that night he was walking along the street and three youths attacked him very violently – they stabbed him 11 times.
“Louis heard that Ben was calling and went back and held Ben. He took his jumper off and put it to what he thought was the one stab wound. Then my husband arrived and Louis was on the floor holding Ben.
“An ambulance came and took Ben away and Louis was taken to the police station with Mark. He was covered in Ben’s blood and, while he was being questioned, a policeman came in and said they were now treating it as a murder enquiry, which is how he found out Ben had died.”
An emotional Linda expressed frustration and anger over knife culture, saying: “Kids are picking up their car keys, their phones and their knives. When is it going to stop? What are we going to do? There needs to be more deterrent.”
She said every time she hears of another knife crime on the news it brings the memories flooding back.
“I would like to see more police in the streets. There is an exhibition the Kinsella family take to schools. Never mind woodwork or cookery. This exhibition shows kids the consequences of taking that knife out with you. It can not only ruin the life of the person you kill, but the lives of your family and community.”
Ben’s sister, Brooke, a former EastEnders actress, was watching the programme from home.
She tweeted: “Thank you to our wonderful patron Linda for speaking so passionately and eloquently on Loose Women about our Ben. Thank you Loose Women for highlighting this issue that is killing our children and society.”
The panel discussion was sparked after 35 people were fatally stabbed in London this year, and there were more than 37,000 recorded knife offences across the UK.
It was recently revealed that Brooke, who set up the Ben Kinsella Trust in 2008 and has been given an MBE for her campaigning, has been advising on a knife crime storyline with EastEnders.
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She will work with soap bosses to portray the realities of knife crime and its effect on families.
Brooke said: “The pain will never go away. I commend EastEnders for choosing to portray the realities of knife crime. It destroys lives. This storyline will bring home how it damages lives of victims, offenders, their families and friends for ever.”
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV