by Lorraine King Two men accused of gunning down a former boxing champion after he asked them to stop smoking have been cleared in court. Rene McKoy, 20, and 24-year-old Dean Francis were charged with killing James Oyebola in the Chateau

by Lorraine King

Two men accused of gunning down a former boxing champion after he asked them to stop smoking have been cleared in court.

Rene McKoy, 20, and 24-year-old Dean Francis were charged with killing James Oyebola in the Chateau 6 bar in Fulham on July 23 last year.

The 46-year-old from Dollis Hill was shot in the neck after he politely asked a group of men to comply with the smoking ban which had come into force earlier that month.

Mr Oyebola, a former British heavyweight boxing champion and Commonwealth winner, died four days later.

At the Old Bailey today (18) McKoy and Francis were formally cleared on the direction of Judge Peter Rook QC after prosecutors offered no further evidence against them.

The case against Kanyanta Mulenga, 23, and Cyle Carth, 18, who are also charged with Mr Oyebola's murder will resume.

However, Carth will be trialled in a separate hearing expected to take place next year.

Mulenga from Putney denies murder.

Prosecutors claim he smuggled the gun by hiding it in the genital area of his trousers and he was the one who pulled the trigger.

lorraine.king@archant.co.uk