Alan Yentob: Former Kids Company chairman criticised over murder linked to charity's closure

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BBC executive and former Kids Company chairman Alan Yentob has been criticised by the mother of a teenager whose murder he linked to the troubled charity’s closure.

Mr Yentob told the Public Administration Select Committe (PASC) on Thursday that there had been a murder, as well as stabbings and suicides, in the wake of Kids Company shutting down.

Although he did not name him, it is understood that he was referring to the murder of 17-year-old Jerrell Elie, who was killed in south London in August, days after the charity folded. Jerrell had regularly visited a Kids Company project in his area.

Amanda Elie, 38, Jerrel’s mother, said that her son had been used as a “political pawn”. Ms Elie told the Evening Standard: “I do think it’s a cheek that since Jerrell died no one from Kids Company has come to my door or given us flowers.

“Someone left a message on my phone but it was from a private number and I couldn’t call them back…They should have told us before using Jerrell as a political pawn.”

However, she also acknowledged that Kids Company had played a major role in Jerrell’s life and said that, had it not closed, her son might still be alive.

“Jerrell loved that place and he was always there. If Kids Company was still open on that night then he would have been there. My son could still be alive today,” she said.

During a tense evidence session on Thursday, PASC chair Bernard Jenkin told Mr Yentob and former Kids Company chief executive Camilla Batmanghelidjh that the committee had been told by “a very reputable source” that criminal incidents had occurred in the wake of the charity’s closure because “kids no longer had money to pay their drug pushers”.

However, Ms Elie said her son did not receive any money from Kids Company. “He wasn’t the type of person who needed all of their services or social work, but he would go there every day to socialise,” she said.

Mr Yentob said: “I have never intended to cause any distress, and my work with Kids Company has always been about attempting to help those with severe needs. In today's press, I see that the young man's mother has said that if Kids Company had been there then this tragedy might have been avoided.”