Schoolboys pay tribute to fallen friend
Year 11 students at St Bonaventure’s Roman Catholic School in Forest Gate created a positive artistic tribute to murdered schoolboy Ailton Campos de Oliveira for what would have been his 18th birthday.
The boys of the school came together to create a memorial wall and “peace garden” on October 13 to preserve the memory of their schoolfriend who was due to celebrate his birthday in September.
Ailton was 16-years-old when he was confronted by a group of teenagers in Boundary Lane, Plaistow and chased up Denbigh Road in East Ham where he was stabbed 13 times.
A group of boys at his old school in Boleyn Road worked with art company Graffiti Life who came in specially to work with the students on designs and ideas for a memorial wall.
The students then had a full part in spraying the wall and the tribute was also used as a workshop for them to improve their artistic skills.
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The area will become the Ailton Peace Garden and a team of sixth form students are working on the garden area, welcoming Graffiti Life back
The gang attacked him at around 1am on July 4 and he died two days later in the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel of multiple stab wounds, including a fatal blow to the chest.
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A stsatement in the school newsletter said: “As a school community we are especially grateful to Graffiti Life for helping us to forever link Ailton to such a beautiful inspiring piece of work.
“For such a positive tribute to come from such a tragic event is wonderful.”
In a statement at the time of Ailton’s murder, his family said: “Our family have been left devastated by the needless death of Ailton.
“We would hate for another family to suffer for a similar loss and believe that his death highlights the dangers of young people carrying knives.”
A reward of up to �20,000 is still on offer for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the alleged murder.
