Damilola Taylor: The Untold Story leaves viewers 'sobbing' over harrowing detail in BBC iPlayer documentary
Damilola was brutally killed just before his 11th birthdayDamilola Taylor: The Untold Story has left viewers “sobbing” after hearing one specific and harrowing detail of the schoolboy’s murder.
Damilola was just 10 years old when he was attacked on his way home from Peckham Library in London in November 2000.
He had been stabbed behind his knee with a broken bottle, with the glass hitting a main artery.
Damilola’s devastated brother, his close friends, police and the man who discovered him have all taken part in the BBC documentary.
But there is one lesser known detail about Damilola’s death that also emerges – and viewers who have already watched it have found it almost too much to bear.
Damilola Taylor: The Untold Truth documentary on BBC iPlayer
Damilola Taylor: The Untold Story marks the 26th anniversary of Damilola’s tragic death. It begins with his brother Tunde Taylor, who was 20 at the time, speaking about their lives in Peckham.
Tunde and Damilola had only moved to England from Lagos with their mother and sister months before the killing. Their dad had stayed in Nigeria. He worked for the Ministry of Defence.
Tunde recalls his brother Damilola in the documentary: “He was just a carefree little boy. Happy and enjoying life.”
But Damilola’s best friend John Boyega and his older sister Grace remember how Damilola was being bullied. Grace said he was bullied for his accent because it “wasn’t cool to be from Nigeria during that time”.
The culprits were a pair of Jamaican brothers who were “part of the most notorious gang on the estate”. They would wait outside Damilola’s primary school gates to “rough him up”.
John and Grace recall how they visited Peckham Library with Damilola on the day he was killed. Grace had offered to walk him home, but Damilola assured her he would be fine.
Tragically, a short while later, a caretaker for Damilola’s council estate, named only as Bill, discovered him in a stairwell. He had followed pools of blood up the stairs.
Bill says in Damilola Taylor: The Untold Story: “I looked and I saw this little boy. And I knew he was hurt. I grabbed him and put him in my arms. I could see he wasn’t okay.”
He recalls how he was gasping for breath: “He was dying in my arms,” Bill remembers, welling up with tears.
Viewers sob over harrowing ‘marble’ detail
James Greenhill, from the Metropolitan Police, was one of the first officers on the scene. He recalls the moment he desperately tried to save Damilola’s life with CPR and mouth to mouth resuscitation.
It is then he reveals the horrific detail that has upset viewers so much.
PC Greenhill remembers how he thought Damilola had swallowed his tongue. He was breathing into his mouth but his chest wasn’t moving. He moved his tongue to one side and continued. But only a small amount of air was going in.
PC Greenhill goes on to explain: “During the post mortem we noticed a marble had been lodged in Damilola’s throat. My initial reaction was just complete shock. I had my fingers in his mouth, could I have pushed it down further.
“Somebody had gone to the appalling lengths of not only stabbing someone but putting a marble into his throat.”
‘Pure evil’
Viewers have shared their upset at this detail on Facebook.
One wrote: “I cried throughout this documentary. It was heartfelt and very powerful. I felt very sorry for the brother who lived with blame. Also the extra information about the marble was completely harrowing.”
Another added: “I sobbed watching the new documentary. What about the marble that was found down his throat??”
A third replied: “That was pure evil.”
And another horrified viewer wrote: “They put a marble in his mouth too which he swallowed so CPR wouldn’t have worked?! Sick!”
Ricky and Danny Preddie were later found guilty of the manslaughter of Damilola. They were sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institution. They were 12 and 13 when they killed Damilola.
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