Croydon mum says teenage son was too ashamed

The mother, Stacey O’Donnell, was speaking in an interview with the Sunday Times about her son, Tai O’Donnell.

She was talking about the death of Tai who was killed by his abusive partner, Kamila Ahmad, 24 when she broke into his flat the day after his mother told him to end the relationship.

He was stabbed repeatedly and then left to die. Ms Ahmad did call an ambulance eventually, but by then it was too late, and Tai was dead.

It was not the first time Ahmad had used a knife on a boyfriend six years previously. She knifed her ex, Karim Hussain three times while in a temper, but he did not report the abuse either and only came forward after Tai’s murder.

His mother told the Sunday Times that she had seen his stress but had wrongly assumed he was merely in a toxic relationship. She said he was too embarrassed to leave his girlfriend and the abuse was never reported.

She said: “Tai wasn’t a timid boy; he had a strong spirit. Never in a million years would I have thought that he would end up in a situation like this.”

“He was a young, popular boy, he didn’t want to be seen as someone who was being terrorised by a girl. He was embarrassed.”

Ahmad was found guilty and will serve at least 23 years in prison.