John Boyega shares 'unheard testimony' about murder of 10-year-old childhood friend Damilola Taylor in heartbreaking new BBC true crime documentary tracking final 24 hours of his life

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John Boyega is to share an 'unheard testimony' in a heartbreaking documentary about the murder of his childhood friend Damilola Taylor.

In 2000, Damilola, 10, was fatally stabbed in Peckham, south-east London, and left to bleed out.

Star Wars actor John, then aged eight, and his sister Grace were among the last people to see their friend alive.

A new documentary, provisionally titled Damilola Taylor: The Last 24 Hours, will explore the tragic final moments leading up to the young boy's death.

In particular, it will explore the impact Damilola's death had on friends and family, including the now-34-year-old John.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Last Word podcast in 2024, Boyega said losing Damilola had been 'life-changing' - and that a reading of a poem the 10-year-old had written at his funeral showed how his friend had 'dreamed to be more'. 

John Boyega will feature in a heartbreaking documentary about the murder of his childhood friend Damilola Taylor

In 2000, 10-year-old Damilola (pictured) was fatally stabbed in Peckham, south-east London , and left to bleed out

He told the podcast's John Taylor: 'From the hours we left him in Peckham to the hours when I went home, and then the police was at our door and there was a whole investigation that we were involved in, (it) was definitely life changing for me, definitely altered my perspective.

'Even though I was young, it was a shock to understand how mortality worked. To think that somebody as young as me could pass away in such a horrific way was hard for me to understand or comprehend.

'And I definitely think Damilola's tragic (killing) has definitely shaped me through the years and just affected my perspective on certain things and it definitely affected the community too.

'I mean, my sister, in particular, Grace, who was very, very close with Damilola, went through a lot, and my dad had to front that and try to protect her in that journey. It was definitely a lot for everybody to take.'

Reflecting on the poem Damilola had written, he said: 'It was during the time of the funeral his dad had read the poem that Damilola had written down for himself.

'And that was a poem that spoke about what Damilola wanted to achieve, how far he wanted his dreams to spread, who he wanted to impact and touch.

'And I found that quite profound because I was just kind of like "Man you're so young, why are you even thinking about that kind of stuff?"

'I'm here, wondering when the ice cream van is going to pull up and why he's an hour late from Monday.

'And you're thinking about all this stuff that you're going to do and how you're going to use your skillset to impact the world.

'And I guess that, just amongst other things, just gave birth to this mentality that I had.

'What is truly my dream? Do I have the guts to identify what my dream is? Am I too young to identify my dream and work towards it?

'And after reading that poem, I was just like, yeah, I have no excuse. I want to be a movie star.

'And not just because I want to be (one) but because someone else like Damilola Taylor, in my environment too, dreamed to be more.

John was eight-years-old at the time - with he and sister Grace being among the last to see Damilola alive

'And I think that's worth it. And it definitely has impacted me till today.'

Damilola's father Richard, a civil servant from Nigeria, died on March 23, 2024, aged 75 following a battle with prostate cancer - after two decades of campaigning to prevent youth crime.

Boyega said Mr Taylor was 'a man that was for the people and for the community' and who 'turned his tragic loss into something triumphant'.

He told the podcast he was motivated to speak about Damilola following news of Mr Taylor's death. He has never spoken about the death before.

He said: 'I haven't (spoken about it) and on purpose too. I'm quite private in general, but with this specifically... it's that celebrity thing of not wanting to get in front of very real life news.

'But on Richard Taylor's passing, I just was so kind of motivated to speak up.'

It is directed by filmmaker Alex Thomas, while reconstructing Damilola's final day including the pressures impacting young people in his community.

Furthermore, the film will examine the harrowing rise of knife-related crimes in the quarter-century since the murder.  

Alex 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.'