A ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant has told of how he witnessed his headteacher collapse after being fatally stabbed at his school.
Pianist Tokio Myers was just 11 when Philip Lawrence was brutally stabbed by then 15-year-old Leacro Chindamo outside the gates of St George’s School in Maida Vale, West London, in 1995.
And after trying out for the ITV talent show, Tokio has revealed how a bond he formed with a music teacher who shielded him from the horror of the crime, helped him to get where he is today.
Recalling the brutal incident in an interview with The Mirror, Tokio said: “I was in the music room practising and out of nowhere the door was kicked open and my music teacher [Mr Morgan] drags me off the piano stool and carries me out.
During his audition, which airs on Saturday’s (29 April) show, Tokio also pays tribute to his music teacher, Mr Morgan, for helping to keep him on the straight and narrow.
He tells judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams: “He was the guy I looked up to as a kid. He was my music teacher, and if it wasn’t for him guiding me and showing me where I could go, I probably wouldn’t be here or doing what I’m doing today.”
He also says: “I grew up in a really rough estate in London and that definitely played a role in sticking at music, because it was a way of releasing negative energy and turning it into something positive.
“Playing piano kept me out of a lot of trouble,” he adds.
Find out if Tokio’s audition impresses the judges when ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ airs tonight at 8pm on ITV.