John Boyega Says Damilola Taylor’s Killing ‘Directly Affected’ Him

John Boyega has spoken about being “directly affected” by the murder of his 10-year-old childhood friend Damilola Taylor, revealing that he also came close to becoming a victim of youth violence while growing up.

The Star Wars actor reflected on Damilola’s brief life ahead of the BBC Two documentary Damilola: The Untold Story. Damilola was fatally stabbed just yards from his home in Peckham, south-east London, in November 2000.

Boyega was among the last people to see Damilola alive. The killing went on to become a defining moment in the national conversation about knife crime in Britain.

The pair became friends at Oliver Goldsmith Primary School after Damilola moved to London from Nigeria several months before his death. Both boys came from Yoruba families.

Damilola hoped to pursue a career in medicine. But while walking home from the library, he was attacked by two boys, aged 12 and 13. He was found bleeding to death in a stairwell after being stabbed in the leg with a broken beer bottle.

Boyega, who was eight when Damilola died, discussed his friend at a Bafta event in London held ahead of the upcoming BBC Two documentary.

Speaking alongside his sister Grace Boyega, who also knew Damilola and was 10 at the time, the actor described the impact of youth violence on their community.

Boyega said he had been “directly impacted and affected” by Damilola’s death and by other violent incidents, adding that he “came close to it myself a good few times”.

“Grace came close to it herself. We grew up in a really interesting time,” Boyega said. “I just wanted people to see the journey and to see the different paths that such an event can lead to.”

He recalled living with the constant fear that he could be attacked while walking through Peckham. “It was a consistent thing in my mind,” he said. “I’m going to be on Rye Lane, near the Peckham multiplex, opposite McDonald’s, and someone’s going to come and do that to me.”

Boyega also reflected on how young he was when Damilola was killed. “It’s been a short life but a long life for me because of the extremes of my experiences so far,” he said. “Both good and bad, they have been extremes.”

“Whether they’ve been incredibly low or incredibly high… it is a lot, and it gives you a very big perspective on life,” he added.

“You’ve lived several different lives, even now at 34. It still feels like I’ve lived longer than that, just because of what you’ve been exposed to and the experiences that have affected me in a negative way.”

However, taking part in the documentary also reminded him of the personal growth that followed. “All in all, it was good to watch this and remember that despite that, there was growth, which motivated me to take part in something that was a positive thing,” he said.

Boyega said the documentary had also helped him reconnect with his past, explaining that “it’s always good to come back home, remember who you are, what grounds you and what the motivating factor for you to go to do what you did was in the first place”.

Boyega, who lived on the same estate as Damilola, said Peckham’s story was not defined solely by violence. “As much as there was that negativity there, I cannot help but highlight the people who got their bootstraps together and said, ‘I’m going to do what I can,’” he added.

‘Regardless of where you go, remember your origin stories, because it will guide you through anywhere really.’

Speaking about why he chose to talk about Damilola’s stabbing for the first time in the documentary Boyega said: ‘I guess I was pretty much inspired by the team that was put together and the intention behind it.

‘I know previously there had been several different documentaries about Damilola, all of which I watched, but I guess it just felt like the right time to talk about the origin story of not only this case, but a lot of people that were surrounding in that area.

‘I think it was important for people to see what had happened and the effects of that situation, and it was packaged together really, really well.

‘I believe in the intention, I think this is quite a positive film, as well as it being informative, and I just wanted to support something that I felt like long-term would have a positive impact.’

Sitting alongside him, Grace added: ‘It’s hard because you have to unlock stuff that you’ve kept closed for so many years. Just having to relive that whole experience has been a lot, but again like John said there is hope.

‘There has been hope, especially with this documentary it shows that there is hope. Life is a choice – you can decide to go this way or go that way.’

Joining Boyega and Grace on the panel were Damilola’s brother Tunde Taylor, the documentary’s director Alex Thomas and BBC presenter Tina Daheley.

Also present was former Metropolitan Police superintendent Dr Leroy Logan, who was once chair of the Black Police Association and investigated Damilola’s killing.

The programme will explore the final hours of Damilola’s life and the impact his death had on those who knew him – including Boyega, who speaks with Grace and his other friends about the culture of Peckham in 2000 and their fears after the boy’s death.

Boyega first spoke publicly about Damilola in 2024, saying he was motivated to do so following the death of the boy’s father Richard Taylor aged 75 with prostate cancer.

The former Nigerian civil servant dedicated years to helping disadvantaged children in the wake of his son’s death, and set up a charity to campaign against knife crime.

Mr Taylor established the Damilola Taylor Trust with his wife Gloria and continued its work after she died in 2008 following a heart attack. The charity is now run by Tunde.

Other close friends and family members will also appear in the documentary with an account of the events that led to the death and how the killing affected their lives.

The film retraces Damilola’s final day and examines the environment shaping the lives of those around him, as well as the increase in knife-related crimes since his death.

It will revisit the investigation, from the collapse of the original prosecution to the discovery of microscopic forensic evidence that eventually led to two convictions. 

After three crown court trials, Damilola’s two killers, Ricky and Danny Preddie, were finally put behind bars after being found guilty of manslaughter in 2006.

The brothers were both jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey. Ricky was released in September 2010 and Danny was let out one year later.

Mr Thomas said: ‘Damilola’s story has never been told through the experience of the young people who were living it at the time.

‘This film shows what it meant to grow up in an environment shaped by fear, bullying and the need to protect yourself — and how those pressures influenced the choices people made.

‘Twenty-five years on, those experiences still stay with them, and many of those pressures still exist for young people today.’

Jack Bootle, the BBC’s head of commissioning for specialist factual, added: ‘The killing of Damilola Taylor shocked the UK and changed the lives of those closest to him forever.

‘This film traces their stories – and honours Damilola’s memory through the voices of those who knew him best.’

‘Damilola: The Untold Story’ will air on BBC Two and iPlayer on October 5 at 9pm