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11:29 GMT, Thursday, 9 October 2008 12:29 UK

Life term for smoking row killer

Kanyanta Mulenga shot James Oyebola in the neck and leg

Boxer was casualty of smoking row

Kanyanta Mulenga

A convicted drug dealer has been jailed for life for murdering an ex-British boxing champion in a row over smoking.

James Oyebola, 46, a former heavyweight champion, was shot in the neck at Chateau 6 in Fulham, south-west London.

Kanyanta Mulenga, of Putney, south-west London, denied murdering Mr Oyebola after the ex-boxer asked a group of men to stop smoking, the Old Bailey heard.

Mulenga, 23, was told he must serve a minimum of 28 years in prison for the attack in July 2007.

'Most trivial'

Judge Peter Rook told the killer: "This was nothing short of a brutal killing carried out for the most trivial of reasons."

Mulenga gunned down Mr Oyebola with a converted replica automatic pistol three weeks after the ban on lighting up in public places came into force in July last year.


"James Oyebola was said to be in a happy mood that night, politely telling people that they should not smoke."

Judge Peter Rook


He had managed to walk into the bar with the gun hidden in his waistband because the metal detector at the venue was out of use.

The judge said, while he had not gone there intending to kill, he clearly had the gun with him, intending to use it if necessary.

Mr Oyebola, who won a bronze medal in the 1986 Commonwealth Games, was enjoying a quiet drink when trouble erupted.

After seeing Mr Oyebola stand up next to one friend, Mulenga pulled the gun from his waistband and fired a warning shot - but the former boxer "stood his ground" so the gunman turned the weapon on him.

Judge Rook said: "This is a truly tragic case. James Oyebola was said to be in a happy mood that night, politely telling people that they should not smoke."

He told the gunman: "You are part of the gun culture that blights our cities."

Mulenga had been jailed for 30 months in September 2005 for possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply.




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Related to this story:
Ex-boxer murdered in smoking row (08 Oct 08 |  London )
Cleared man 'saw friend with gun' (25 Sep 08 |  London )
Two men cleared of boxer's murder (18 Sep 08 |  London )
Ex-boxer killed in 'smoking row' (02 Sep 08 |  London )
Three in court over boxer murder (04 Jan 08 |  London )

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