'My son is dead and I am bitter'

Mother says she wished family had never returned to UK
More about the Damilola Taylor case
Special report: policing crime

Nick Hopkins, crime correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 30 2000 15.25 GMT

The mother of the 10-year-old boy who bled to death in a council estate stairwell admitted yesterday she was bitter about his murder, and wished that she had never brought her family to the UK.

Gloria Taylor said the decision to move to London four months ago was only taken because her daughter Olugbemisola, 23, needed treatment for severe epilepsy that could not be provided in Nigeria.

The lifestyle the family enjoyed in Africa was far removed from the grim surroundings of the north Peckham estate in south London where they were placed last summer, and where her son, Damilola, was stabbed as he walked home from school on Monday.

"Before my daughter had this treatment in London she was so ill she couldn't even walk. Now she is much better. But I wish we had never come. My son is dead and I am bitter," said Mrs Taylor, 49.

The family had saved £5,000 over two years for the treatment at London's King's College hospital. In Nigeria, Damilola attended a private primary school and the family had a comfortable lifestyle, she added. "I decided I would bring my daughter over here but I could not leave my children alone. How could I leave my little son Damilola? So I brought him, my daughter and my other son Baba Tunde with me."

Damilola was stabbed in Blakes Road, Peckham, as he walked home on Monday evening. His femoral artery, which runs along the inside of the leg, was severed, causing massive and uncontrollable bleeding. He staggered 100 yards before collapsing in a concrete stairwell - 20 yards from a shop where he would have found help.

Detectives hunting his killers found a kitchen knife with cloth wrapped around the handle during an extensive search of the surrounding area yesterday.

Detective Superintendent David Dillnutt, who is leading the investigation, refused to say where the knife was found, but confirmed it was concealed.

This and a broken bottle found in the road close to where Damilola was attacked have been sent to the forensic science service for examination.

During a press conference at Scotland Yard, Mr Dillnutt said films from closed-circuit television cameras in the neigbourhood had been recovered, but that it could be some time before officers knew whether they would reveal vital clues.

Taunted

Some children at Oliver Goldsmith primary school, where Damilola had been studying for three months, have already given preliminary interviews to detectives, under the supervision of specialist counsellors.

Damilola had complained he was being taunted and bullied by pupils.

The prime suspects remain three youths who were spotted at the bottom of the stairwell by a man who discovered Damilola's body.

The boys, who were wearing hoods, ran away as the passerby cradled Damilola and tried to stop the bleeding.

Mr Dillnutt urged the youths, aged 11 to 14, to come forward.

"There is no firm motive for why Damilola was attacked," said Mr Dillnutt. "He could have been picked on. He could have been the victim of a robbery. He may have been the victim of a stranger attack.

"It is possible that he may have been attacked by children messing around with, unfortunately, tragic consequences.

"We appeal to children and parents who know anything about this murder to come forward."

He added: "This investigation is attracting the highest level of attention that is available. There will be no stone unturned, no avenue which is not explored."

Prince Bola Ajibola, the Nigerian high commissioner in London, said the country's President Olusegun Obasanjo had sent his condolences to the Taylors.

"The Nigerian government has tremendous confidence in the British legal system and believes that in time the law will take its normal course to find and arrest those involved in this gruesome act.

"Damilola came to the United Kingdom in search of a greener pasture only to be kiilled a brutal manner."

Although Damilola was born in Nigeria, his parents lived in London for 10 years in the late 1970s and early 1980s before emigrating.

"I can't believe how much Britain has changed since we left," Mrs Taylor said.

Useful links

Metropolitan police
The home office
Ofsted report: the Oliver Goldsmith primary school
Local media: South London online
London borough of Southwark
Photographs of the North Peckham estate