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Man guilty of ex-boxer's murder | Man guilty of ex-boxer's murder |
(31 minutes later) | |
A man has been found guilty of the murder of a former champion boxer in a row over smoking at a London nightclub. | |
Kanyata Mulenga, 23, from Putney, shot James Oyebola in the neck and leg in July 2007 at Chateau 6, in Fulham in south-west London. | |
A jury at the Old Bailey heard how Mulenga, who had denied murder, fired at Mr Oyebola, 46, after he asked a group of men to stop smoking. | |
Prosecutor Jeremy Donne described the attack as "particularly senseless". | |
Mr Oyebola, a former British heavyweight boxing champion, died four days after the shooting in July 2007, which happened three weeks after the smoking ban began in England. | |
'Giant against kids' | |
Father-of-three Mr Oyebola asked a group in a "perfectly pleasant way" to extinguish their cigarettes in the club's garden area, which counted as enclosed premises because it had a roof, the court heard. | |
A witness said Mr Oyebola was then jostled by three men. | |
"He thought it looked like a giant against kids," said Mr Donne. | |
Mulenga then fired off four shots with a converted replica Baikal automatic pistol. | |
Two hit Mr Oyebola and he died in hospital without regaining consciousness. | |
Last month Rene McKoy, 20, of Battersea, and 24-year-old Dean Francis, of Wandsworth, south London, had murder charges against them dropped. | Last month Rene McKoy, 20, of Battersea, and 24-year-old Dean Francis, of Wandsworth, south London, had murder charges against them dropped. |
The case against Cyle Carth, 18, of Wimbledon, south-west London, who was also charged with the murder, was also discontinued. | The case against Cyle Carth, 18, of Wimbledon, south-west London, who was also charged with the murder, was also discontinued. |
He faces a separate trial over Mr Oyebola's killing. | He faces a separate trial over Mr Oyebola's killing. |