A MAN accused of gunning down a south Tottenham teenager in an alleyway has been cleared of murder.

Asher Vance, 24, stood trial at the Old Bailey, charged with shooting dead Abdulkarim Boudiaf on March 14 this year outside the Elmhurst pub.

But a jury today found Mr Vance, of South Grove, Tottenham, not guilty of murder, and also cleared co-defendant Jack Jackson of assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.

Mr Boudiaf, affectionately known to his friends as Karim, was shot in the neck and stomach as he left an alleyway next to the pub, at the junction of Broadwater Road and Lordship Lane.

The former Gladesmore Community School pupil was on a night out socialising with four friends when he was gunned down, and died at the scene despite frantic efforts by paramedics to save him.

He had been listening to music with his friends in a car parked in the alleyway shortly before he was shot twice at point blank range.

The jury in the trial heard evidence from his friends who witnessed the shooting, including three who had identified Mr Vance as the shooter.

However, the prosecution barristers did not offer any motive for why Mr Vance would have carried out the killing.

The defence barristers also highlighted that none of Karim's friend gave Mr Vance's name to police until more than a day after the murder, casting doubts over whether they actually identified the shooter at the scene.

Mr Vance and Mr Jackson, 19, of St Loys Road, Tottenham, were arrested in the days after the shooting at the latter's student accommodation in Brighton.

They were formally charged by police alongside Charlie Davis, 18, of Browning House, Shakespeare Walk, who also faced accusations of assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.

However, the charges against Mr Davis were dismissed by the judge last week.

The not guilty verdicts delivered today means no one has been brought to justice of the murder of Karim.

Following his death, framed pictures of the 18-year-old, of Plevna Crescent, south Tottenham, and flowers were left at the scene of the shooting by friends.

A friend told the Haringey Independent at the time: “He was the best guy. There is nothing he was involved in that should have led to this. He didn't deserve this.”