Turkish gang associate who organised ride-by gets 34 years
A career criminal has been jailed for at least 34 years after a nine-year-old girl was shot in the head in a bungled hit he helped organise for a Turkish gang.
Javon Riley, 33, was recruited to take part in the planning of the ride-by assassination organised by the Tottenham Turks.
The intended targets were three men eating at the Evin restaurant in Hackney where the girl was having a meal with her family.
A gunman riding a Ducati Monster motorbike fired six pistol shots into the restaurant on 29 May last year.
Three men were hit but they all survived with minor injuries.
But the girl will suffer ‘physical and cognitive difficulties throughout her life’ after one of the bullets lodged in her brain.
The Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Turks have been shooting and stabbing each other in north London for decades.
Tottenham Turks leader Izzet Eren, 41, who is suspected of ordering the Evin restaurant hit, was shot dead in Moldova in July last year as he sat outside a cafe.
In 2015 Jermaine Baker was shot dead by armed police during an attempt to break Eren out from a prison van taking him to a hearing at Wood Green Crown Court.
Ali Armagan, of the Hackney Turks, was shot dead in an Audi outside Turnpike Lane in 2012 and Zafer Eren of the Tottenham Turks was killed in Southgate the following year.
Riley denied but was convicted of three charges of attempted murder and of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the girl after an Old Bailey trial last month.
He carried out extensive reconnaissance ahead of the hit, obtained and disposed of the weapon used by the gunman and acted as a getaway driver.
Riley admitted acting as the getaway driver but claimed he believed he was taking part in a robbery of drugs from the restaurant.
He told the jury he was a career criminal and had committed countless robberies for which he had not been caught.
Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, the Recorder of London, jailed Riley for life with a minimum term of 34 years.
He told Riley: ‘This was clearly a planned attack on members of a rival gang by you and others, members of or connected to the Tottenham Turks.
‘At another table inside the restaurant was sat a nine-year-old girl. She was there with her family enjoying a dinner.
‘This shooting was part of an ongoing dispute between two rival groups in London, the Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Turks.
‘Over the last 10 years the ongoing feud has seen a series of murders and attempted tit for tat murders in London and overseas.
‘A nine-year-old girl and her family will have to cope with the injuries sustained by the mindless violence of you and others.
‘In evidence to the jury you took some pride in being an effective and efficient robber avoiding detection by police, and a drug dealer.
‘Whilst I am not sentencing you for those matters, your admission to that offending is clearly relevant to sentence.’
‘You claimed you agreed to take place in a robbery rather than a shooting. You said you got involved and would make serious financial gain.
‘In my judgement there was significant planning in this attack.’
Judge Lucraft said the mothers of Riley’s children have written to the court in ‘glowing terms’ about him, which did not reflect the criminality he has admitted.
The judge passed a discretionary life sentence after judging Riley to be a dangerous offender.
Bearded Riley, wearing a blue shirt and grey trousers, showed no emotion as a statement from the nine-year-old girl’s mother was read.
He saluted his supporters in the public gallery as he was led to the cells.
In the victim impact statement, the mother said: ‘When my husband and I decided to move to the UK our only aim was to create a brighter future for our daughter, a life of stability and safety.
‘We came here through proper legal channels on student visas then a work visa. We invested over £40,000 in visas. We are not entitled to any benefits due to our immigration status.
‘We believed by working hard we could manage our responsibilities like any other family.
‘That hope was brutally shattered when this horrifying incident occurred. What we expected to be a new beginning turned into a nightmare.’
She said her daughter was once ‘healthy, active and full of life’ and loved music, gymnastics and playing sports- but she can no longer do so.
‘Our visas are tied to employment and we cannot reduce our working hours, we rely on both incomes to survive. Despite working and paying taxes the financial pressure is crushing- the cost of adaptation, one on one supervision for after school actives.
‘Recovery chances are best in the first few years but NHS sessions are limited and delayed by waiting lists. NHS services are free but we pay an immigration health surcharge whilst applying for visas.
‘We have to constantly fight for resources she needs.’
She said they were scared about losing a work visa and having to move back to a country with less resources for their daughter.
‘We came here to give our daughter a better life, instead we now fight every day for her survival, dignity and a small piece of happiness.’
The judge said he would consider on a future date whether to make an order to deprive Riley of his assets to pay compensation to the family.
Police found £7,000 in cash in Riley’s flat.
Intended victims Mustafa Kiziltan, 35, Kenan Aydogdu, 35, and Nasser Ali, 43, were seated in the restaurant when six shots were fired at them.
Mr Aydogdu had been shot previously in the left leg in 2009. He was shot again in 2010.
Prosecutor James Mulholland, KC, described the shooting as a ‘planned assassination’ .
Mr Mulholland said: ‘Mustafa Kiziltan, Kenan Aydogdu and Nasser Ali were seated with others at a table on the pavement outside a busy restaurant when a man riding a Ducati Monster motorbike stopped briefly on the road outside the restaurant.
He said the gunman ‘raised his right arm and fired six shots in quick succession at the group – these three individuals were shot in various parts of their bodies.
‘Some of the bullets missed the men. One of these tragically struck a nine-year-old girl in the head and lodged in her brain.
‘She had been sitting at a table inside the restaurant with other members of her family.
‘Messrs Kiziltan, Aydogdu and Ali were taken to Royal London Hospital where each was operated upon for serious injuries caused by bullet wounds to thigh, leg and backbone respectively.
‘Each appears to have made a reasonable recovery.’
Mr Mulholland said the impact on the nine-year-old girl was ‘far greater.’
She underwent a series of operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital and sections of her skull were removed and replaced with a titanium plate.
The girl was in hospital for three months and will suffer physical and cognitive difficulties throughout her life.
Two stolen cars used in the shooting, a Nissan Juke and Mitsubishi Outlander, were set on fire by unidentified men the day after the shooting.
Riley had carried out reconnaissance in the Nissan Juke and a Range Rover in the weeks prior to the shooting driving past the restaurant and sitting in the bar opposite drinking pina coladas.
He had checked that the three targets were present in the restaurant before the gunman made his way up from south London.
He took the gunman away from the scene and was involved in the disposal of the firearm.
Riley was arrested following a vehicle stop in Chelsea Embankment on 9 August last year.
The motorcycle used by the gunman was reported stolen on 16 November 2021 from Wentworth Hill, Wembley, and later fitted with a false number plate
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of customers diving for cover in the restaurant which had floor to ceiling windows visible from the street.
An off-duty police officer Philip Smith said he was cycling home when he saw a motorbike stop in front of him.
’As I was going past I heard one shot at which point I thought “oh s—t, there’s a gunshot”.
‘I thought “what am I meant to do?” I wasn’t going to approach him so I decided to take cover. It was so quick I hadn’t had time to properly process it. Within a second there were another three or four shots fired.
‘I parked my bike outside the restaurant and I entered. The first thing I saw was an Asian man in his mid-thirties sat in front of me in a chair in pain.
‘It appeared as if he had been shot in the leg. I asked where he was shot and he was initially reluctant to say, then said he was shot in the leg.
‘My attention was drawn towards a young female. I remember seeing a female I believed to be her mother, she was hysterical and upset.
‘There was another man who may have been a relative who had a blue item of clothing applied to the left side of the female’s head. She was lying on the floor.
‘She was not verbal and there was blood all over the floor.’
In March 2009 innocent shopkeeper Ahmet Paytak, 50, was shot dead at Euro Food and Wines in Hornsey Road, Holloway, by a hitman hired by the Hackney Turks.
On 2 October 2009 Tottenham Turk member Oktay Erbasli, was shot and killed while driving in Tottenham.
Three days later the Tottenham Turks took revenge with the shooting of 21 year-old Cem Duzgun at a social club frequented by Hackney Turk members in Upper Clapton Road.
Ali Armagan, 32, was shot dead near Turnpike Lane tube station on 1 February 2012, but two men were later acquitted of his murder.
Jurors were told that Izzet Eren and his cousin Kemal Eren are leading members of the Tottenham Turks while the Armagan family are a leading family in the Hackney Turks.
In February 2012 Ali Armagan was murdered on Tunrpike Lane after six shots were fired into his car.
Kemal Eren was shot and paralysed in Turkey in 2012.
In April 2013 Izzett Eran’s brother Zafer Eren was murdered while Kemal Eren’s brother was murdered in 2015.
Izzett Eren was convicted of possession of firearms in 2015 and transferred to Turkey to serve his sentence.
He escaped from the prison in 2019 and on 19 July 2024 he was shot and killed sitting outside a cafe in Moldova.
Riley, of Green Street, Enfield, denied but was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and one of causing grievous bodily harm with intent
