Four members of the notorious Tottenham Boys gang have been convicted of murdering an innocent victim in revenge for the 2009 gang war killing of one of their own just days earlier.
Cem Duzgan was playing pool with friends in the Clapton FC Turkish social club in Upper Clapton Road, Hackney, when Blaize Lunkula opened fire at point-blank range with a Mach 11 sub-machine gun.
The 21-year-old victim was hit 11 times in the head, torso, arms and legs, and died at the scene on October 5, 2009, a tragic chapter in a gang feud that saw a spate of tit-for-tat violent incidents and murders between the Tottenham Boys and Bombacilar – also known as the Tottenham Turks and Hackney Turks.
Although the gun was never found, forensics experts determined Lunkula had been holding the “spray and pray” weapon less than 30cm from Mr Duzgan’s head when he opened fire.
An accomplice had helped him gain access to the club through two airlock doors, the Old Bailey heard.
Lunkula, formerly of Weir Hall Road, Tottenham, was today convicted of murder alongside three others who helped plan the execution.
The 28-year-old is already serving an indefinite jail term after kidnapping a man later tortured to death on the orders of gang boss known only as “Reds”.
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Also convicted of murder was Yusuf Arslan, 24, formerly of Oxford Close, Edmonton. Arslan is also already serving an indefinite sentence for attempted murder and other offences after trying to shoot a gang rival in the street with a sub-machine gun in Tottenham a week before Mr Duzgan’s killing, in revenge for the shooting of a shopkeeper friend.
Arslan wasn’t present at the attack at Clapton FC Club but was at a “council of war” meeting to plan it three days earlier, the court heard.
Phone records revealed that Arslan had called the brother of Oktay Erbasli – whose death they were avenging – immediately before and after the hit.
Erbasli, a Turkish pound shop owner and member of the Tottenham Boys, had been shot dead by a gun-toting biker in front of his five-year-old stepson and girlfriend while at the wheel of his Range Rover in The Roundway, Tottenham, on October 2.
It is thought Mr Duzgan was not the intended target of the revenge attack.
Ndombasi Makusu, 27, and Christian Barabutu, 22, both of no fixed address, were also convicted today of murdering Mr Duzgan, a sales assistant who lived with his family in St John Street, Islington.
Phone records and CCTV pinpointed Lunkala, Makusu and Barabutu in the vicinity of the social club in the minutes before the shooting, while more cameras picked up Lunkula and another man approaching the club, the door being held open and shots being fired.
Lunkula was further linked to the scene by a string of evidence, including CCTV images of a distinctive pair of trainers he wore during the shooting and at a shop he frequented in Tottenham High Road.
He had also been captured on CCTV on the Broadwater Farm Estate wearing a bulky hooded jacket similar to that worn by the gunman shortly before the shooting.
Investigating officer Acting Det Sgt Simon Franklin, said: “The victim was simply enjoying a night out with friends when he went to investigate a disturbance. Sadly this decision cost him his life as he became unwittingly caught up in a bitter and violent rivalry between two Turkish gangs operating in the area.
“This has been a long and complex investigation linked to several other crimes and I am pleased at today’s convictions. This will send a clear message that the streets of London cannot be ruled by fear and violence and that those who commit such offences and hide behind gangs will be brought to justice.”
The four will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on April 11.
