A member of a notorious north London gang has been found guilty of plotting to murder a man who was shot outside his family’s restaurant after they refused to pay £100,000. Beytullah Gunduz, 39, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiring to murder Onur Guzel, who was shot dead outside the Umut 2000 Turkish restaurant in Dalston, east London, on June 20, 2024, Sky News reported.Prosecutors said the shooting was linked to the long-running feud between the Hackney Turks, also known as the Bombasilar, and their rival Tottenham Turks, a dispute which conflict police believe was responsible for more than 20 murders over the past two decades.The court heard that Gunduz accused Guzel’s family of paying £100,000 to members of the Tottenham gang and demanded a similar sum. When the family refused, he staged the shooting, prosecutors said.Guzel (38 years old) was on leave from work when a gunman fired a single bullet from a white Kia Niro, hitting him in the stomach. CCTV footage shown to jurors showed the attack and Guzel’s screams after being hit.He survived but was seriously injured and now lives with an ostomy bag.The gunman was identified as Dogan Öfer, who allegedly fired from the passenger window of the car before fleeing. The Kia was set on fire shortly after the shooting, and Ofer is believed to have traveled to Istanbul.
Jurors learned that the Guzel family and the restaurant had previously been targeted in incidents related to gang conflict. His brother’s house was shot up in April 2024, and two days later, gunmen fired five shots into the restaurant during the early hours of the morning.Gozel told the court that Gunduz and one of his associates initially contacted the family after the previous attacks and offered help before later accusing his father of financially supporting the rival gang. Asked whether the family could pay the £100,000, Guzel told the court: “We could have saved the money, but why should we pay money to someone, and for what reason?”The trial also heard that Gunduz had previously been the target of gang-related attacks. In May 2024, gunmen opened fire outside a Dalston restaurant shortly after he left the building. Prosecutors said the attack was part of an ongoing dispute between rival groups.Gunduz also survived a separate shooting incident in 2020 when a motorcyclist shot him in the neck.After the sentencing, Metropolitan Police Inspector Ian Wallace said: “This was a calculated and callous attack carried out in a busy public area and could easily have resulted in loss of life,” as reported by Sky News. He added that Gunduz played a central role in organizing the shooting and showed “a complete disregard for the safety of the victim and the community as a whole.”Gunduz has been imprisoned and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 2.