Richard Taylor, father of a murdered Nigerian schoolboy, Damilola Taylor, has called for more to be done to solve the murder of seven-year-old Joel Uhrie.
Uhrie was killed in a fire incident in July 2018 at his Deptford family home in south-east London.
Uhrie’s mother Efe and sister, Sarah, 19, luckily jumped to safety from a window on the first floor.
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The Met Police had said it was treating the case as arson but believed Uhrie was unlikely to be the target.
Uhrie’s brother, Sam, 21, was stabbed in a fight outside the property on June 11, suggesting the fire could have been a follow-up attack.
Mr Taylor, however, told Channel 4 in an interview that he would like people to treat the case of Uhrie better than that of his son who was killed in 2000, Daily Mail reports.
Taylor had brought his family to Britain from Nigeria in 2000 searching for a better life.
Damilola, 10, bled to death on November 27, 2000, after being stabbed in the thigh with a broken beer bottle in a service area on the North Peckham Estate, south London, where he lived.
Since that time, several persons have been tried on the murder. One of the suspects, Ricky Preddie, was released on parole just four years after an eight-year sentence was handed down for the killing.
Gloria Taylor, Damilola’s mother, in April 2008 died from a heart attack after collapsing in the street.
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Taylor, in his interview with Channel 4, joined Uhrie’s mother in appealing for information about Uhrie’s murder and condemned the wall of silence surrounding the case.
“People don’t value life, because of the number of tragedies and stabbings, it is regarded as an everyday occurrence now.
“For the sake of young boy they should please come and give information,” he said.
