John Boyega speaks about childhood friend Damilola Taylor's killing

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Oct, 07:30 · Archive

Star Wars actor John Boyega has discussed being with his friend Damilola Taylor shortly before the ten-year-old was fatally stabbed in Peckham in 2000.

Star Wars and Attack the Block actor John Boyega was one of the last people to see his school friend Damilola Taylor alive before the ten-year-old was fatally stabbed in Peckham, south-east London, in November 2000. Boyega was eight years old at the time.

Boyega discusses the killing in a new BBC Two documentary. In the opening scene, he describes feeling nervous about revisiting the trauma after many years, saying the experience kept him awake at night because he had just been with Taylor. He reflects on how the event shaped him and how it will continue to influence him as a father. The Daily Mail reports that Boyega has shared a poem that Taylor wrote before his death, praising his friend for helping him to be 'unrealistic with his dreams'.

How it is being reported

• John Boyega praises Damilola Taylor for helping him to be 'unrealistic with his dreams' as he shares poignant poem school friend wrote before he was killed aged tenDaily Mail · 5 Oct, 07:13
• Star Wars actor John Boyega on the day his 10-year-old school friend Damilola Taylor was killed: ‘It kept me up at night because I was just with the guy’The Guardian · 4 Oct, 06:00

In this story: John Boyega · Damilola Taylor · Peckham · BBC Two

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