Men on trial accused of Wood Green prisoner escape plot
- Published
Jermaine Baker was shot dead during a police operation to foil the escape plot, jurors were told
Two men have gone on trial accused of taking part in a plot to free a gang leader from a prison van on its way to court in Wood Green, north London.
Ozcan Eren, 31, of Wood Green and Eren Hayser, 25, of Enfield deny trying to help free Izzet Eren using an imitation Uzi machine gun last year.
However, a police bug inside one of the plotters' cars linked the defendants to the escape attempt, the Crown said.
Met Police shot dead Jermaine Baker, 28, while trying to foil the plot.
The trial will not consider the facts of Mr Baker's shooting.
Izzet Eren was on remand from HMP Wormwood Scrubs accused of gun offences and had arranged for a gang to spring him from a prison van en-route to Wood Green Crown Court for sentencing, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
Jurors heard the prisoner hatched the escape plot from his cell using a contraband mobile phone and the attempted breakout took place on 11 December, in what Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay described as a carefully thought out and professional crime.
The Crown alleges in the months before the breakout bid a car was stolen and left in a car park near Wood Green Crown Court. Police installed a listening device in this car and placed it under surveillance.
On the morning of the escape attempt, the car was picked up by three men, Jermaine Baker, Nathan Mason and Gokay Sogucakli, who were parked in a side road near the court, jurors heard.
Ozcan Eren and Eren Hayser were parked nearby and were overheard by the police bug directing the plot at this point, according to the prosecution, who said mobile phone records also showed Ozcan Eren rang the others from his phone. Eren Hayser then tried to call his co-conspirators, which linked the pair to the escape plot, the Crown claimed.
Izzet Eren hoped the break out would help him avoid a lengthy prison sentence, the court heard.
Izzet Eren, Nathan Mason and Gokay Sogucakli, all of Tottenham, have previously pleaded guilty to conspiring in the escape plot and conspiring to carry an imitation firearm with criminal intent.
The trial continues.