A criminal involved in a shooting incident that resulted in a young girl sustaining a gunshot wound to her brain has been found guilty of planning a murder scheme. Beytullah Gunduz, aged 39, was convicted for conspiring to assassinate Onur Guzel, aged 38, who was fatally shot outside his family-owned restaurant in Dalston, located in east London, during the previous June.
Guzel was targeted amidst a violent feud between the Hackney Bombers and the Tottenham Turks, which has witnessed over a dozen fatal shootings in the past 16 years. Gunduz had been previously acquitted of orchestrating the killing of former Tottenham Turks leader Zafer Eren, aged 34, who was gunned down near his residence in north London back in 2013.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Gunduz was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder after the jury deliberated for a lengthy period of 16 hours and 40 minutes. Guzel recounted that he was conversing with his spouse over the phone around 10 pm during a work break when he heard a loud noise.
He described feeling a sensation of numbness and a loud ringing in his ear, prompting him to check for injuries. The victim lifted his shirt and noticed blood on his lower abdomen. Prompt action from restaurant patrons and police officers rendered first aid before Guzel was transported to the Royal London Hospital for medical attention.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC scheduled a sentencing date for the upcoming month and pondered on the potential retaliatory nature of the shooting, possibly linked to an earlier attack that severely injured a nine-year-old girl. The young girl was unintentionally struck in the head during a shooting incident targeting Gunduz outside the Elvin Restaurant in Hackney in May 2024.
The assailant, hired spotter, and getaway driver Javon Riley, aged 33, was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 34 years for causing grievous harm to the girl and attempting to murder three men caught up in the violent altercation. Allegedly, members of the Tottenham Turks sought retribution against rivals from the Hackney Bombers faction.
Six weeks later, Izzet Eren, aged 41, a prominent Tottenham Turks figure and the younger sibling of the deceased Zafer Eren, was fatally shot in Chisinau, Moldova, in what appeared to be a retaliatory strike.
In another development, Guzel informed the police while hospitalized about two other shooting incidents in the preceding weeks that he attributed to the Tottenham Turks gang. He recounted an attack on his brother’s residence followed by gunfire directed at the restaurant during the early hours when it was unoccupied.
The conflicts stemmed from an incident in November 2024 when Guzel’s brother received a threatening text demanding a significant sum of money, accompanied by an image of a gun. During the shooting near his brother’s house, Guzel’s sister-in-law, who was pregnant at the time, narrowly escaped harm as the assailants erroneously targeted a neighboring property.
Subsequently, Guzel’s father, a co-owner of the restaurant, received a demand for a larger sum of money, coupled with threats, after the police were alerted. Gunduz, in his testimony, refuted any involvement in the attack on Guzel and denied knowledge of the extortion attempts or shootings linked to the Tottenham Turks.
Gunduz, originally from Turkey, disclosed his activities in the UK, involving car trading, state benefits, and past criminal convictions dating back to 2008. When questioned about his potential involvement in any shooting conspiracy, Gunduz vehemently denied any association.
The defense further queried Gunduz about his awareness of the shootings at the house and restaurant, to which he admitted knowledge of the latter but not the former. He disavowed issuing threats or extorting money from Guzel or his family.
