Richard Taylor: Activist and Father of Damilola Taylor Dies, aged 75

Richard Taylor, the Nigerian-born activist, former civil servant and father of Damilola Taylor, has died aged 75, after a long battle with prostate cancer. In 2000, Taylor’s son, 10-year-old Damilola Taylor was murdered in a brutal crime that shook the nation.

Taylor publicly described the call informing him of Damilola’s death as

‘the most devastating call [he] ever took in [his] life’.

However, like Doreen Lawrence and other black parents who have converted unfathomable pain into political change, the tragedy called him to become a leading figure in the movement against youth violence in Britain. Richard served as a successful civil servant at the time of his son's death, in the following years Richard Taylor became one the millennium’s most powerful voices in the fight against knife crime in the UK.

In Taylor’s fight to bring justice for his young son, Taylor and his late wife Gloria remained determined throughout the investigation, which cost nearly £16 million and took nearly 6 years to see a conviction made.

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Richard and Gloria, who died of a heart attack in 2008, set up The Damilola Taylor Trust in 2001 in their son’s memory and name. Since its inception, the trust has supported South London’s at-risk youth, who are particularly vulnerable to school expulsion and becoming involved in violence. Mourners, who have taken to social media to honour the life and works of Richard Taylor, people have stated the Trust did everything he intended it to do and more. Throughout his campaigning, Richard received the support of several famous figures, including footballer Rio Ferdinand, and actor John Boyega. Whilst speaking on the success of John Boyega and Yinka Bokinni, who were both childhood friends of Damilola’s, Taylor stated he was ‘so proud of them’ for their respective achievements.

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Taylor dedicated the latter portion of his life to ensuring more of London’s inner city youth were able to achieve their dreams and escape the toxic cycle of violence. Throughout his campaigning, Richards fight for his son’s justice, served to protect countless black youth, as did his message: ‘remember that [Damilola], was an innocent young boy who was trying to settle down in the UK, before he was deprived of his life’.

Richard family made the following announcement of his passing: “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 23 March”

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