Shopkeeper shot dead in gang hit was wrong target

 
9 April 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A shopkeeper was killed by a hitman hired for a revenge gang attack, the Old Bailey heard today.

Ahmet Paytak, 50, was shot in the stomach and died outside the shop in Holloway in March 2009. Both he and his son, who was hit in the leg, had no part in the gang vendetta and were “truly in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the court heard.

The intended target had been another Turkish man, Mehmet Senpalit, who had been working a different shift.

The gunman was hired by Kemal Armagan, boss of the gang known as the Hackney Turks, the court heard. They were involved in a “dreadful and deadly feud” with the Tottenham Boys, also known as the Tottenham Turks, the jury was told. Armagan, who “cannot at present be found”, had been shot and wounded two months earlier and had sworn vengeance, said Edward Brown, QC, prosecuting.

Mr Paytak and his son Husseyin, 21, had been shutting up shop. A motorcycle pulled up, the passenger leapt off, pulled a gun from his waistband, and fired four shots.

The driver of the motorcycle, Michael James, was convicted of murder at an earlier trial and is serving a life sentence. The alleged gunman, Ricardo Dwyer, 26, of Hackney, denies murder. The case continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in