A GUNMAN who claimed his pistol went off by accident has been cleared of murdering a student.

Abdala Jama, aged 20, was blasted in the stomach at close range during a stand-off between two groups of young Somalians in Barnfield Road, Woolwich, on July 14 last year.

Musa Ibrahim, aged 25, admitted holding the gun but claimed he fired by mistake.

His friend Ali Gulaid, aged 22, who was said to have passed him the gun, was also cleared after he insisted he did not touch the weapon.

The pair hugged and sobbed in the dock as they were cleared of murder and manslaughter at the Old Bailey today (July 24).

Prosecutors claimed the shooting was part of a feud between the pair and the victim's older brother Ahmed over a Mercedes car.

There had been a dispute over who owned the car, which Ahmed had bought from a friend, after Mr Ibrahim and Mr Gulaid were seen driving it in the Woolwich area..

Mr Gulaid said he had been threatened by Ahmed Jama after being spotted in the Mercedes at a petrol station.

On the day of the shooting the Jama brothers clashed with some of the pair's friends, before meeting up in Barnfield Road that evening.

Mr Ibrahim claimed he found a gun lying on the ground and picked it up fearing he might be attacked, but did not deliberately fire it.

Mr Gulaid also admitted being present, but said he was being attacked by the Jama brothers and their friends and did not see the shooting.

Mr Jama died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, from a single gunshot wound, although three spent bullet casings were found at the scene.

Mr Ibrahim, of Fishermans Walk, Thamesmead, and Mr Gulaid, of St Margaret's Terrace, Woolwich, both denied murder and manslaughter.