Damilola Taylor
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Damilola Taylor (December 7, 1989–November 27, 2000) was a Nigerian schoolboy who was murdered in the UK, causing a national scandal and campaign for justice.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, he travelled to the United Kingdom in 2000 with his family to allow his sister to seek treatment for epilepsy. He was attacked on 27 November 2000, on his way from Peckham Library to his home in Peckham. He died from stab wounds on his way to hospital, after lying in a stairwell for some time.
In 2002 four youths, including two 16-year-old brothers, were cleared of his murder. Two were acquitted on the direction of the judge after he ruled that the prosecution's key witness, a 12-year-old girl, was unreliable; the jury found the other two not guilty.
Police kept the investigation open. New DNA techniques led to a re-examination of the evidence obtained at the time of the murder, and on January 6, 2005 three teenagers (aged 19, 17 and 16) were arrested and charged with murder.
External links
- Damilola Taylor (http://www.damilolataylortrust.org/)
- BBC report of new charges, January 6 2005 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4153461.stm)