A passer-by intervened and the robbers left, but they returned when the two boys were on their own, punching the Asian and stabbing his friend with a knife, leaving him seriously injured. London Ambulance Service said he had cuts to his stomach but his condition was stable. Meanwhile a gang of youths aged 10 to 14 has become the focus of the Damilola Taylor investigation. They were loitering in Peckham, south London, the night he was stabbed. An anonymous 999 call reported a bottle fight between youths shortly before Damilola was attacked, but police found no evidence of the incident.
Police believe a woman in a red anorak with a small child was also outside the library.
During a press conference Mr Dillnutt dismissed reports that Damilola's family believed their son, who was born in Nigeria and had moved to the UK four months ago, was being bullied by West Indian youths. We have no evidence of this. The family is not saying this is a racial incident or a racist attack. We simply do not know if there is a link between the bullying that had been complained of by Damilola's family and his death. Sir John Stevens, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, acknowledged, how ever, that there were tensions on the Peckham estate where he was killed.