A MAN has been cleared of murdering a promising young footballer following a retrial.
Richard Harrison-Allen, 20, was originally jailed for life last year after being found guilty of shooting dead 17-year-old Leyton FC player Etem Celebi.
But following the emergence of new evidence the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided to allow an appeal against the conviction.
A retrial took place and yesterday jurors at the Old Bailey found Mr Harrison-Allen not guilty.
Etem, who was a member of his team's title-winning under-16s side during the 2005/06 season, grew up on the same estate as pop star Leona Lewis and was a childhood friend of the singer.
His life was brutally cut short when he was shot in the back as he sat on a wall on a Stoke Newington estate in November 2007.
At the time police said they suspected the shooting was the result of a dispute between two gangs.
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