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Victim's brother: Let me help killer
Simon Kirby04.08.08
The brother of a boxer shot dead in Fulham today offered the alleged gunman a chance to turn his life around.
James Oyebola was shot in the head last July after asking a group of men to stop smoking in a friend's nightclub.
The 6ft 9in Nigeria-born former British heavyweight champion was feared as "Big Bad" in the ring but was loved as a gentle family man outside of it.
Kelly Oyebola, who runs Potential, a mentoring service for young people, said he wanted to help his brother's alleged killer.
"What I want to do is to embrace the person who is responsible for my brother's death," he said. "He is the last person really to have contact with my brother before his life was taken. I want to make him my responsibility and hopefully by the time he comes out of prison I will have built Potential to such an extent that I will be able to offer him a job."
Mr Oyebola, with more than 15 years' experience in social work and probation, advocates a "no-nonsense but supportive" approach, honestly explaining to young people the dire consequences of picking up a knife or a gun.
Four men accused of the murder of James Oyebola await trial next month.
