Hackney Turks Gangster Beytullah Gunduz Jailed for Shooting Plot: Dalston 2026

Key Points

• Life Sentence: Senior Hackney Turks gang member Beytullah Gunduz, 40, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years for conspiring to murder Onur Guzel.
• Sentence in Absence: Gunduz refused to attend his sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey and was handed his tariff by Judge Mark Lucraft KC in his absence.
• Targeted Violence: The victim, 38-year-old Onur Guzel, was shot outside his family’s eatery, the Umut 2000 restaurant in Kingsland High Street, Dalston, on 20 June 2025 following extortion demands.
• Previous Incident Connection: Gunduz was the intended target of a May 2024 shooting at the nearby Evin Restaurant in which a nine-year-old girl suffered a severe head injury from a stray bullet.
• Decade-Long Conflict: Police confirmed both shootings stemmed from an ongoing feud between rival organized crime groups, the Hackney Turks and the Tottenham Turks, dating back to a 2009 snooker club brawl.

Dalston (East London Times) September 25, 2026 — A high-ranking member of an east London organised crime group, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt that critically injured an innocent nine-year-old girl, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years for orchestrating a revenge gun attack outside a nearby Turkish restaurant.

Forty-year-old Beytullah Gunduz, a senior figure within the Hackney Turks street gang, was convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to murder Onur Guzel. Guzel, 38, was targeted and shot outside his family’s establishment, the Umut 2000 restaurant in Kingsland High Street, Dalston, in June 2025. Gunduz refused to leave his cell to attend the Old Bailey on Friday and was sentenced by the court in his absence.

As reported by Emily Pennink of the Press Association, the Old Bailey heard that Gunduz was a central figure in a long-running, violent conflict between his gang and their long-time rivals, the Tottenham Turks. According to statement evidence submitted by the Metropolitan Police during the trial, the root of the violent feud between the Tottenham Turks and Hackney Turks dates back to an altercation at a snooker club in 2009.

Who is Beytullah Gunduz and what was his role in the Dalston shooting plot?

Beytullah Gunduz is a prominent 40-year-old figure within the Hackney Turks organised crime network. As reported by Tristan Kirk of the Evening Standard, prosecutors presented detailed evidence establishing that Gunduz planned and coordinated the armed hit against Onur Guzel outside the Umut 2000 restaurant on 20 June 2025.

The court heard that the hit followed a series of extortion attempts and threats demanding hundreds of thousands of pounds from the business owners. As outlined by prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC during court proceedings, Gunduz helped direct the logistics of the attack, which involved a white Kia Niro motor vehicle driven past the venue, from which a gunman fired a round at Mr Guzel.

In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey, the Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, highlighted the severity of the planned attack. Reading directly from Mr Guzel’s victim impact statement, Judge Lucraft KC noted that the victim suffered “permanent and irreversible” physical injuries. In his personal statement, Mr Guzel stated: “The attack did far more than injuring me physically”, detailing the profound psychological and commercial impact the firearm assault inflicted upon him and his family’s restaurant trade.

How does the conviction relate to the 2024 restaurant shooting that injured a child?

The court heard that the June 2025 plot came just thirteen months after Beytullah Gunduz himself was targeted in a drive-by shooting in the same neighbourhood. In May 2024, Gunduz had been sitting outside the Evin Restaurant on Kingsland High Street, Dalston, just moments before masked gunmen opened fire from a stolen motorbike. Gunduz was unharmed, but a nine-year-old girl dining inside with her family was struck in the head by a stray bullet.

As reported by Metropolitan Police court disclosures, Javon Riley, 33, acted as the spotter and getaway driver in that May 2024 incident. Riley was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 34 years for causing grievous bodily harm with intent to the young girl and for the attempted murder of three men believed to be rival gang associates.

Despite the public outrage and police scrutiny following the May 2024 shooting, prosecutors established that Gunduz actively pursued gang operations, culminating in the coordinated June 2025 attack on Mr Guzel. Detective Chief Inspector Iain Wallace of the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Command stated that Gunduz played a “central role in organising the shooting, showing a complete disregard for the safety of the victim and the wider public”.

Background of the Gang Feud and Criminal Operations

The conviction of Beytullah Gunduz marks a critical milestone in law enforcement’s decade-long operation targeting organized crime syndicates in East and North London. The feud between the Hackney Turks and the Tottenham Turks has historically centered around control over illicit narcotics distribution, extortion rackets targeting local commercial businesses, and territorial rivalries spanning the London boroughs of Hackney, Haringey, and Islington.

Since the original dispute triggered at a snooker establishment in 2009, the feud has resulted in dozens of violent clashes across the capital, including targeted assassinations, kidnappings, and firearm assaults. The escalation into open residential and commercial areas—such as busy dining corridors along Kingsland High Street in Dalston—represented a significant operational shift that drew heightened intervention from the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate and Armed Policing units.

To combat the retaliatory violence, the Metropolitan Police deployed specialized surveillance teams and ballistic monitoring to track vehicle movements linked to both groups. Ballistic experts confirmed that weapons used in both the May 2024 and June 2025 shootings were linked to broader criminal supply networks operating within the United Kingdom.

Prediction: How This Development May Affect the Local Community and Criminal Networks

The imposition of a 20-year minimum life sentence on a senior figure like Beytullah Gunduz is anticipated to alter the operational dynamics for several key stakeholder groups across North and East London:

• Local Business Owners and Residents: The incarceration of a primary figure associated with protection rackets and gang orchestration is expected to offer temporary relief to commercial operators along Kingsland High Street and surrounding areas. Reduced immediate threats of extortion may bolster public confidence, foot traffic, and patronage for local hospitality venues that suffered reputational damage following successive high-profile shootings.
• Organised Crime Dynamics: Law enforcement analysts anticipate that the imprisonment of key lieutenants from both the Hackney Turks and Tottenham Turks could create a power vacuum within these networks. While this disruptively destabilizes active operational plots, it presents a short-term risk of internal factional disputes or opportunistic turf incursions by rival syndicates attempting to seize control of local drug distribution corridors.
• Law Enforcement and Judicial Strategy: The successful prosecution and televised sentencing at the Old Bailey establish a reinforced legal precedent for applying heavy conspiracy charges to gang leaders who delegate physical attacks to subordinates. The Metropolitan Police are likely to maintain targeted patrols and intelligence-led operations across Hackney and Haringey to prevent potential retaliatory maneuvers following Gunduz’s imprisonment.