Nine months on from the tragic death of Damilola Taylor, the South London estate where he lived has become a ghost town. The last few residents are now in the process of moving out, before the North Peckham Estate is demolished and rebuilt.
The estate where 10-year-old Damilola lived and died has been subject to months of bad press. Official statistics do little to contradict this view. The North Peckham Estate is bang in the middle of one of the most deprived areas in the country. But not all residents are happy to be leaving or pleased about the way their neighbourhood has been portrayed.
The murder of a young person always comes as a shock. More so, when the person who's died is the same age and lives just a couple of floors above you.
10 year old Jonathan Ijoyah moved out of Dursley Court, the block where Damilola lived, only last month. He's now with his family in another part of Peckham. Although there were bad points about life on the North Peckham Estate, Jonathan has mixed feelings about moving away:
'I lived there all my life. Many of my friends are still there. So I'm quite sad to be leaving. I found Damilola's death shocking - especially as it happened on my estate.'
Living in an inner city estate can have its problems, but Jonathan feels that the media's portrayal of the estate was unfair.
'We're just the same as any other estate. Most of the things that the media said were untrue.'
Jonathan's mother, Shireen, agrees: 'We've lived on the estate for 14 years without any problems. The media's portrayal of our home was bad. They really exaggerated how bad it was. The area is much better now than it used to be. But I do hope they bring in more for young people to do to keep them off the streets.'
Many hope the plans to revamp the estate will bring about some welcome change - changes that will benefit young people.
Damilola Taylor's aunt, Dorcas Fayemi, told us she hopes his death will not be in vain.
'Children must be safe to go out. I'm appealing to the government, police, parents, everybody, to help us come together to tackle what's going on in the streets. We have to fight to get this bullying and killing to stop.'
Dorcas doesn't believe that curfews, which are being pioneered in some areas of Britain, are necessarily the right answer to reducing street crime. She reckons incidents are just as likely to happen during the day and that better policing and closed circuit television cameras might help.
One of her proposals for reducing street crime is an incredibly simple one - but one she believes is the key to the problem.
"Children need to look after each other. They don't need hate. They need love. Love your neighbour is my message. If you see someone in trouble on the streets, help them."
When asked how the area could be made safer, Jonathan argued for better security. 'The street lamps were not bright enough when Damilola was killed. We also need a few more police officers to patrol the streets.'
The police say they're doing their best. Chief Inspector Malcolm Tillyer of the Metropolitan Police described there having been a climate of fear and high numbers of unreported crime on the North Peckham Estate before it hit the headlines.
He said things have been going on to reduce crime in Peckham for a long time. But he admits Damilola's murder was a wake-up call.
'We'd already planned to increase the number of police officers patrolling the streets. We want to introduce a scheme where we would work in local schools, so that we can develop better relationships with young people.'
The Chief Inspector insists that things have been improving recently.
'During the last six months we have worked in partnership with other agencies and have started to turn things around,' he said.
As construction work goes on in the estate, Jonathan's former home is due to be demolished later this year. The trial of the four teenagers charged with Damilola's murder is expected in the next few months.
Jonathan feels that many lessons have been learnt and that some good has come out of this tragic murder.
'The community has come together and is much closer. Crime isn't as bad as it was.'
About the team
This article was produced by Alexander Dowty, 12, Darell Philip, 19, Della Hicks-Wilson, 15, Jenny Roe-Stanton, 16, Bryony Hope 12 and Kimberly Mayo, 17. It was published as part of Teen Talk, the Children's Express page in New Nation.
