Girl shot in 'planned hit' of rival gang members

A man is on trial for his role in the attempted murder of rival gang members

A nine-year-old girl was shot in the head when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire during "a planned assassination" of rival gang members, a court has heard.

The Old Bailey heard the girl was eating dinner with her family at the Evin restaurant in Kingsland High Street in Dalston, east London, on 29 May last year when she was hit by a bullet.

The drive-by shooting also left three men seriously injured, with bullet wounds to various parts of their bodies.

Javon Riley, 33, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of attempted murder together with others and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent against the girl, who cannot be named because of her age.

It is alleged Mr Riley played "a key role before, during and after the shooting".

Mr Riley, of Tottenham, north London carried out a reconnaissance, going past the scene several times to ensure the target or targets were present before the shooting and he helped the gunman evade capture, it is alleged.

The gunman has never been tracked down.

On Tuesday, prosecutor James Mulholland KC said: "The prosecution case is that this was a planned assassination of members of a rival gang by Mr Riley and others.

"This is evident from the degree of planning involved, his behaviour and comments before, during and after the event - as well as common sense.

"Those who wanted this shooting to take place put the planning of the event under Mr Riley's control, possibly with the assistance of others."

'Intense rivalry'

Mr Mulholland added that the shooting appeared to have been part of "an ongoing dispute" between two rival groups in London known as the Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Turks, also known as the "Bombacilars", but the "immediate reason for it was unknown".

He said: "These two gangs have had an intense rivalry for well over a decade which has involved the use of extreme violence towards one another during that period, and it is the prosecution case that what was intended was the murder of whomever was targeted."

Those seated outside restaurant had affiliations towards the Hackney Turks and the ones who had ordered the shooting were from the Tottenham Turks, the prosecution said.

Mr Mulholland told the jury: "You will hear in conversations covertly recorded in a car used by Javon Riley some time after the shooting that, although he was not a member of the Tottenham Turks, he clearly knew of them and was linked to them and that they were behind the shooting."

It is not suggested that Mr Riley fired the shots from the Ducati Monster motorbike which stopped briefly on the road outside the restaurant.

Dalston's Kingsland Road was closed off while police investigated

Jurors were told the rider "raised his right arm and fired six shots in quick succession" which hit the three men sitting in a group outside, but also struck the little girl.

The court was told the girl had made "a relatively good recovery" after going through several intensive operations.

Mustafa Kiziltan, Kenan Aydogdu and Nasser Ali, who were seated with others at a pavement table outside the busy restaurant, were also left with bullet wounds.

It is claimed that Mr Riley was "vital in the carrying out of the plan to kill".

The court heard that after the shooting, the gunman rode the motorbike to a nearby street where Mr Riley was waiting in a stolen Nissan Juke on false plates before they "calmly" headed to north London before transferring into Mr Riley's Range Rover.

Covert police recordings in the months after the shooting, show Mr Riley talking about a man called Izzet Eren, who is linked to the Tottenham Turks and was shot in Moldova on 10 July last year in what was believed to be a revenge attack.

He also spoke about a man called "Kem", whom the prosecution believe is Kemal Eren - one of those closely involved in the Tottenham Turks.