Richard Taylor, father of Damilola Taylor, who was killed 24 years ago in the United Kingdom (UK), is dead.
The activist, according to a statement issued by his family, died on Saturday after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer at the age of 75.
“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, March 23 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich,” the statement reads.
Damilola and his family moved from Nigeria to London in the summer of 2000 in search of a better life.
Taylor stayed back in Nigeria working as a civil servant while the family settled in Peckham seeking to get medical treatment for Gbemi, Damilola’s sister, who had a severe form of epilepsy.
The 10-year-old boy was said to have had medical ambitions to carry out research to help his sister.
On November 27, 2000, he was stabbed in the leg with broken glass by two brothers, Danny and Ricky Preddie, who were persistent young offenders.
According to CCTV footage, the boy was hopping and skipping on his way home from the library before the brothers apprehended him.
Damilola bled to death on a concrete stairwell a few hundred metres before his house.
His death sparked outrage in the UK.
Prosecutors said aside from his age, there was something about the boy’s character and appearance that appealed to people.
“He’s an engaging person, wearing school uniform. He’s smiling, has got an air of confidence about him and he looks positive about the future,” Nick Ephgrave, the detective who caught the Preddies, told the BBC.
Another factor was the time it took – six years and three trials – to identify and convict his killers.
Ephgrave said the conviction of the Preddies for manslaughter was one of the highlights of his 30-year policing career.
Taylor and his late wife Gloria were motivated to set up a charity in their son’s memory after his death.
He said he wanted his son to be remembered as a boy of hope.
In 2012, Taylor was awarded an officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for his activism against violent crime.
He dedicated it to the memory of the late Damilola.
Credit: Cableng
