A nine-year-old girl was shot in the head by a motorbike-riding gunman in east London in an attempted assassination of rival gang members, a court has heard.
Ali Nasser, 43, Kenan Aydogdu, 45, and Mustafa Kiziltam, 38 – who are linked to the Hackney Turks – were sat outside the busy Evin restaurant on Kingsland High Street, Hackney, when six shots were fired at the group, a jury was told.
They were all wounded, but one of the stray bullets hit the girl, who was sitting at a table with her family members on the evening of 29 May last year, and lodged in her brain, the Old Bailey heard.
All of the victims survived the attack – which was caught on CCTV in footage described as “distressing to watch”.
But the girl needed operations to rebuild her skull with titanium and was in hospital for three months before being allowed to go home. She will have physical and cognitive difficulties for the rest of her life.
Prosecutors say the shooting was part of an ongoing dispute between the Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Turks, also known as the Bombacilars (Bombers), whose “intense rivalry” over more than a decade has seen “extreme violence” used between them.
James Mulholland KC told a jury that members of the Tottenham Turks had ordered the “planned assassination of members of a rival gang”.
Javon Riley, 33, of Farnborough, Hampshire, is on trial at the Old Bailey, where he denies four charges of attempted murder and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the girl, who cannot be identified because of her age.
Prosecutors say Riley wasn’t a member of the Tottenham Turks but was linked to them and knew they were behind the shooting.
The gunman, who arrived on the scene on an “extremely powerful” red Ducati Monster, has not been arrested, but Riley is said to have played “a key role” before, during and after the alleged attempted murders.
He is alleged to have been “an integral part” of the plan, as he carried out reconnaissance and carried the gunman away from the scene.
The court heard that after the shooting, the gunman rode the motorbike to a nearby street where Riley was waiting in a stolen Nissan Juke on false plates before they “calmly” headed to north London before transferring into Riley’s Range Rover.
Vehicles used in the alleged plot were later torched, the court heard.
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Mr Mulholland said in covert recordings in the months after the shooting, Riley talked about Izzet Eren, who is linked to the Tottenham Turks and was shot in Moldova on 10 July last year in what is believed to have been a revenge attack.
He also discussed a man called “Kem”, who prosecutors say is Kemal Eren, “one of those closely involved in the Tottenham Turks”.
“It is clear from all the evidence that Javon Riley knew this was a job for individuals connected with Tottenham Turks, the level of violence required and the aim was to kill those seated outside the restaurant and played an integral part in setting the scene so that this came about,” said Mr Mulholland.
“The only reason someone did not die that night was luck and had nothing to do with Mr Riley.”
