Murder charge over boxer dropped

A teenager who sparked a row over smoking which led to the death of a former boxing champion has had a charge of murder against him dropped.

James Oyebola, 46, was gunned down following the confrontation at a bar in west London in July last year.

Cyle Carth, 18, of Wimbledon, south-west London, admitted starting the row after smoking in the bar.

He pleaded guilty to affray. He got a six-month sentence but was released as he had spent a year on remand.

Kanyanta Mulenga, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years earlier this month after being found guilty of Mr Oyebola's murder.

"You have seen how an aggressive confrontation and your ill-chosen remarks can lead to events which then go out of control"
Judge Peter Rook

On Monday, the Old Bailey heard it was Carth who lit up in the garden bar of the Chateau Six nightclub in Fulham Broadway and caused the initial row.

Jeremy Donne QC, prosecuting, said: "It is his conduct that night that put into train the events that led to the death of James Oyebola."

But Judge Peter Rook said he accepted he did not know Mulenga had a gun, or that his actions would ultimately result in Mr Oyebola's death, and all he was involved in was "pushing and shoving".

Carth had been locked up in 2005 for possessing a gun and also had convictions for drug possession and dishonesty, the court heard.

The judge told him: "You have seen how an aggressive confrontation and your ill-chosen remarks can lead to events which then go out of control.

"I hope you have learnt a lesson from that."

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