A pregnant woman was threatened that gangsters would “blow off” her head before a man was shot outside his family’s Dalston restaurant, a court has heard.
Shooting Outside Umut 2000 Restaurant
Onur Guzel, 38, was seriously injured when he was shot in the stomach outside Umut 2000 restaurant in Dalston, east London, on June 20 last year. He was allegedly targeted after the Hackney Turks gang accused his family of paying rivals Tottenham Turks £100,000 and demanded the same amount.
Beytullah Gunduz, 39, an alleged member of the Hackney Turks, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused over Mr Guzel’s shooting. Giving evidence from behind a screen on Monday, Mr Guzel told jurors he had worked six days a week at the family restaurant for 15 years.
He was on a break, sitting outside on the phone to his wife at around 10pm when he heard a “loud bang”. He told jurors: “It was on the phone looking down to be honest and I heard a loud bang and I felt numb and I understood something was wrong with me. There was this really loud pinging in my ear. The first thing I done was I checked my chest and arms to see if I have been shot in the chest and arms. I lifted my shirt up and could see I had blood on my lower abdomen.”
People rushed out of the restaurant to help and two police officers provided first aid before Mr Guzel was taken to the Royal London Hospital for treatment.
Earlier Incidents and Extortion
While still in intensive care, Mr Guzel requested police visit him so that he could tell them about two shooting incidents in the weeks before which he blamed on the Tottenham Turks gang, the court heard. Last April, his brother’s house was targeted and then two days later, five shots were fired at the restaurant at 2am when there was no-one there, he said.
The trouble dated back to November 2024 when Mr Guzel’s brother had allegedly received a text message demanding £100,000 or “the heads will be blown off family members” and an image of a gun. At the time of the shooting near his brother’s home, his sister-in-law was pregnant, jurors heard. But the attackers did not know where they lived and got the wrong address, with bullets going through a neighbour’s door, the witness said.
Afterwards, Mr Guzel’s father received a phone call now demanding £300,000 as the police had been notified, the court heard. His sister-in-law also received a text message allegedly saying: “You made it worse by letting the police know and now we are going to ask for more. We are going to do another shooting. The next one will be your head.”
Confrontation with Gunduz
About a week after the initial shooting incidents, Gunduz approached Mr Guzel and asked what had happened, the court heard. The witness said: “He wanted to know what happened and who is doing it and I told him we gave it to the police and the police are dealing with it. We did not know who is doing this to us. Someone is demanding money of us and that is why they are shooting at his house and the restaurant.”
He went on: “After I explained to him what happened, that we have given it to the police I was told by Mr Gunduz ‘if you give the rivals money we will have problems’.” Asked who he meant, Mr Guzel said the Tottenham Turks, who were the Hackney Turks’ enemies.
At a later meeting, Mr Guzel and his father were accused of paying £100,000 to the Tottenham Turks and were given a week to pay the Hackney Turks the same amount. His father had allegedly responded: “I’ve not paid any money and I’m not going to pay you guys any money either.”
Prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC asked if the family had the money to pay such a large sum. Mr Guzel replied: “We could come up with the funds, but why should we pay someone money for what reason?”
Defense Arguments
Under cross-examination, Mr Guzel was asked if he had been “confused” when he spoke to police in hospital. He said: “I was not confused. I remember saying to them I do not know who shot me whether it was Hackney Turks or Tottenham Turks. I was threatened by both parties. I don’t know.”
Graham Trembath KC, defending, suggested his client Gunduz was in fact a regular at the restaurant. Mr Guzel said: “I have even served him myself. I would not say he was a regular regular but he would come in now and again and get food.”
Gunduz, from Hackney, north London, has denied conspiracy to murder and an alternative charge of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
