As âDamilola: Our Loved Boyâ airs tonight and relives the horror for the Taylor family when they lost their youngest child, his father Richard Taylor explains heâs not in a position to forgive his sonâs murderers.
At a recent screening of the moving 90-minute feature, Richard - who was moved by his son to set up the Damilola Taylor Trust and help educate young people about street violence - explained:
âFor me, the question of forgiveness is something I search in my heart for. But because this tragedy... what it has done to my life has been so painful and such a sad situation, even though weâve moved on, the question of forgiveness is not there for me to decide on.â
This pain is palpable in the drama, which follows the Taylor family both before and after the tragic events of 27 November 2000 in Peckham, South London, when the smiling 10-year-oldâs face became so familiar to news-watchers for the worst possible reasons.
The drama isnât a murder whodunnit, and the young boyâs death isnât shown on screen. Nor is it an exploration of the judiciaryâs response to the knife crime, although this has been much analysed in the years since.
Instead, itâs the story of Damilolaâs family, from their home in Lagos, Nigeria, from where they travelled for a fresh start in London only a few months before.
Actor Babou Ceesay brings all the grief and fury of Richard Taylor to screen, and the actor explained at the launch why he hadnât met Richard at all during filming.
âThe idea was floated that I shouldnât (meet him),â he remembered. âI resisted that at first, but then I realised that what we were doing will never amount to what Richard went through. It would have been a lot of pressure if Iâd met him in person.
âI had a little bit more freedom to trust my instincts as a fellow West African, and from a similar family. I just thought Iâd try to see where that would take me. It was overwhelming and wonderful to meet him finally.â
For the writer Levi David Addai, who previously wrote âMy Murderâ, it was key that the story remain focused on the family. He said:
âWhat it took for the family to have that kind of strength to stand up there and be dignified, I wanted to explore that, so the audiences at home could get why this family special and unique.â
âDamilola: Our Loved Boyâ airs tonight on BBC One at 8.30pm.