Richard Taylor, the father of murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor, has died aged 75.
Mr Taylor campaigned tirelessly against gang violence in the capital after his 10-year-old son was murdered in south London on 27 November 2000 as he walked home from the local library after school.
Damilola, who dreamed of being a doctor, had moved to London from Nigeria a few months before he was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham after being stabbed in the leg with a broken beer bottle.
A statement issued on behalf of Mr Taylor’s family said: “It is with a heavy heart that the family announce the death of our beloved father, grandfather and uncle, Mr Richard Adeyemi Taylor OBE, who sadly passed away in the early hours of Saturday 23 March at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer.”
Damilola’s parents Mr Taylor and his wife Gloria Taylor, who died aged 57 in 2008, set up the Damilola Taylor Trust in May 2001 as a memorial to his son with the aim of providing hope and opportunity to disadvantaged youngsters.
In 2021, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, agreed to designate 7 December – Damilola’s birthday – as an annual Day Of Hope to celebrate and encourage the work of the trust and the Hope Collective.
Mr Taylor, a former civil servant in Nigeria, regularly spoke out about knife crime and was awarded an OBE for his services to reducing youth violence.
In the 2006 Respect Your Life Not A Knife campaign he worked with footballer Rio Ferdinand, who was then playing for Damilola’s beloved Manchester United.
He later revealed Star Wars actor John Boyega was one of the last people to see Damilola alive.
When the moving BBC drama, Damilola, Our Loved Boy won a BAFTA in 2017, Mr Taylor used his emotional acceptance speech to appeal to end the stabbings on the streets of London.
Dedicating the award to his son’s memory, he said: “I want to appeal to young people on the streets killing themselves.
“Parents are crying… killing has gone up recently in the city of London. I beg you: stop unnecessary killing of innocent people, spread the message.”
Brothers Ricky and Danny Preddie were convicted of Damilola’s manslaughter and jailed for eight years in October 2006.
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Source Agencies
