Richard Taylor: Campaigner and father of Damilola Taylor dies aged 75

Richard Taylor, father of Damilola Taylor who was killed 24 years ago, has died, it has been announced. His son was 10 years old when he was stabbed in the leg and left to die in a south London stairwell in 2000.

The campaigner and former Nigerian civil servant dedicated years to improving the lives of disadvantaged children in the wake of his son's death. Mr Taylor died on Saturday aged 75 with prostate cancer.

He set up the Damilola Taylor Trust following the death of his son to campaign against knife crime. 

A statement issued on behalf of his family said: "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."

Mr Taylor said he wanted his son to be remembered as a boy of hope and for his legacy to be a better life and opportunities for underprivileged young people. Damilola was left bleeding to death in a stairwell in Peckham, south-east London, after he was attacked and slashed with a broken bottle on his way home from a library.

The boy's death shocked the nation and became one of London's most high-profile killings. After three crown court trials, his killers, brothers Ricky and Danny Preddie, were jailed.