A life taken in the name of 'respect'

A life taken in the name of 'respect'
　　Three men will be sentenced on Friday for murdering Ben Kinsella, who was the 17th teenager to die in a violent killing¹ in the UK capital last year.
　　The 16-year-old brother of Eastenders actress Brooke Kinsella was stabbed 11 times by Juress Kika, 19, Michael Alleyne, 18, and Jade² Braithwaite, 20.
　　As with so many similar cases, the words "retribution" and "respect" were recurring³ themes.
　　The trio targeted the innocent teenager in revenge for an earlier argument in a bar in Islington, north London, the Old Bailey trial heard.
　　Although Ben had not been involved in the row, they chased him and his friends as they walked home, knocking him to the ground and stabbing him after he got separated from the group.
　　One stab wound（刺伤）, to the heart, split a bone on one of his ribs⁴.
　　Yet the youngsters did all they could to "weasel out"（逃避责任） of what they had done, said detectives.
　　'Walked away'
　　In an impact statement from Ben's family, which was read to the court, his mother Deborah described him as a "happy-go-lucky boy with a heart of gold".
　　"The people who murdered him knew nothing about our Ben, not a hair on his head, a bone in his body, not anything about our wonderful son," she said.
　　"They had never met him before or spoken to him, they just cruelly took his life away with knives for no apparent reason."Ben had been brought up to walk away from trouble, which sadly cost him his life, Mrs Kinsella said.
　　"He walked away to get safely home and they took advantage of that - he was one boy on his own. It seems unfair their intent（意图） was to stab someone that night," she said.
　　Two months after he died, Ben's family were given his GCSE exam results. He had achieved two A* and three As among his nine subjects - he had planned to go to college.
　　Ben's death followed a number of high-profile killings⁵ that summer, including Rob Knox and Jimmy Mitzen, and led to renewed calls to stop knife crime.
　　Days after his death hundreds of protesters, including his friends and family, marched through Islington to the scene of his killing, demanding an end to violence.
　　They wore T-shirts with Ben's picture and slogans "RIP Ben", "Stop Knife Violence", and "You're Always in Our Hearts" printed on them.
　　Speaking at a press conference a few days later his sister urged young people: "Please boys and girls, put down your knives and weapons and think about the pain and suffering they will cause.
　　"Parents, please talk to your children and encourage them to stop all this violence," she added.
　　Police said they knew who had committed the murders within hours of Ben's death, but it took a little longer for witnesses to be persuaded to come forward.
　　One witness, known just as Kellie to protect her identity, said Alleyne and Kika had described to her how they had killed Ben. She said she had not come forward at first because she was scared of Alleyne.
　　Detectives made covert（隐蔽的） recordings⁶ of conversations in a prison van（囚车） between the three defendants⁷（被告）, which seemed to indicate they were all accepting some responsibility for the death, the court heard.
　　In the recordings the trio discussed their alibis⁸, potential witnesses, CCTV evidence and getting rid of their mobile phones.
　　Prosecutor⁹ Nicholas Hilliard QC said: "There is no falling out or blaming each other, nothing like that. They are getting their story straight."Previous convictionsBlood belonging to Ben was found on jeans owned by Alleyne and a belt belonging to Kika. While the defendants admitted they were at the scene, in court they blamed each other for the actual stabbing.
　　Det Ch Insp John McDonald described the killers¹⁰ as "ignorant and socially inept¹¹".
　　"They have just tried to weasel their way out of it all the way through," he said.
　　At the time of the murder, Kika was wanted by police for a robbery during which he had stabbed the victim in the torso（躯干）. He had previous convictions（前科） for robbery and affray.
　　Braithwaite was less known to police, although he did have a conviction for attempted robbery, while Alleyne had been convicted of possessing heroin（海洛因）, cocaine¹² （可卡因）and cannabis （印度大麻）with intent to supply.
　　Ben's killing was due to the culture of young people ensuring they were "respected," Det Ch Insp McDonald said.
　　During the prior argument in the club, Braithwaite had been posturing¹³ and was heard to say, "tell your boy if he wants trouble, I've got my tool on me and it will open you up".
　　Det Ch Insp McDonald added: "They've got to seek some sort of retribution, that's what this is about. Braithwaite thought he had been embarrassed by a younger kid and wanted to get retribution.（报应，报复）"Now they resort to knifing someone, it's an extreme response to what is a relatively¹⁴ minor¹⁵ issue. Instead of punching, or using verbal means, they decided¹⁶ to stab someone many times."(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

3 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

4 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 alibis   

某人在别处的证据( alibi的名词复数 )； 不在犯罪现场的证人； 借口； 托辞

参考例句：

• The suspects all had alibis for the day of the robbery. 嫌疑人均有证据证明抢劫当天不在犯罪现场。
• I'm not trying to beat your alibis any more than I'm trying to prove 'em. 我并不是不让你辩护，我只是想把那个人找出来。

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

11 inept   

adj.不恰当的，荒谬的，拙劣的

参考例句：

• Whan an inept remark to make on such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，怎么说这样不恰当的话。
• He's quite inept at tennis.他打网球太笨。

12 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

13 posturing   

做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
• She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。