Killing of Damilola Taylor

Damilola Olufemi Taylor was a ten-year-old boy who had recently arrived in London from Lagos, Nigeria, where his family had moved in August 2000. On the afternoon of 27 November 2000, he left Peckham Library in south-east London to walk home toward the North Peckham Estate. On Blakes Road he was attacked and struck with a broken glass bottle, which cut his left thigh and severed an artery. He was found bleeding in a stairwell on the estate and taken to King's College Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He died from blood loss, ten days before his eleventh birthday.

The killing prompted a large investigation and became one of the most closely followed cases in Britain. In 2001, four youths were charged in connection with his death, on counts that included murder and assault with intent to rob. At the first trial at the Old Bailey in 2002, the prosecution relied heavily on the evidence of a fourteen-year-old witness whose account was found to be unreliable. The case collapsed: two defendants were acquitted on the judge's direction, and the remaining two were found not guilty by the jury.

Investigators kept the case open, and a later forensic re-examination proved decisive. Using improved DNA methods, a forensic team led by Angela Gallop identified Damilola's blood on the trainers of Danny Preddie and on the sweatshirt cuff of his brother Ricky, neither of whom had been among the original suspects. In 2005, the Preddie brothers, together with Hassan Jihad, were charged with manslaughter.

A trial began in early 2006. On 3 April 2006, Hassan Jihad was cleared of all charges, and the jury was unable to agree on verdicts for the Preddie brothers, prompting a retrial. The retrial opened on 23 June 2006, and on 9 August 2006 Ricky and Danny Preddie were convicted of manslaughter. They had been twelve and thirteen years old at the time of the attack. On 9 October 2006, Mr Justice Goldring sentenced each to eight years in youth custody, explaining that the sentence reflected the boys' ages at the time and the absence of evidence of premeditation.

The case drew lasting attention to youth violence in the area. Damilola's parents, Richard and Gloria Taylor, established the Damilola Taylor Trust in 2001 in his memory, and a community centre named for him later opened in Peckham.