A man who spent his life helping disadvantaged young people after his son was tragically killed has passed away.
The family of Richard Taylor announced earlier today he had died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, where he had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer.
He was 75 years old.
His son, Damilola Taylor, was killed 24 years ago at the age of just ten after being stabbed and left to die in a stairwell in South London.
A former Nigerian civil servant, Mr Taylor had spent the years since his son’s tragic death campaigning against knife crime and to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.
A statement issued on behalf of the Taylor family read: ‘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, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer.’
Establishing the Damilola Taylor Trust after his son’s death, Mr Taylor had said he wanted his son’s legacy to be an improved quality of life and widening of opportunities for underprivileged young people in London.
In a case that shocked the nation, Mr Taylor’s son was found in a stairwell in Peckham on November 27, 2000, after being stabbed with a broken bottle on his way home from the library.
