A man who acted as a spotter and getaway driver in a gangland shooting outside an east London restaurant was jailed for life on Friday with a minimum term of 34 years, after a nine-year-old girl was struck in the head and left with a bullet lodged in her brain.
Javon Riley, 33, of Tottenham, was convicted at the Old Bailey of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the child and of attempting to murder three men who were sitting nearby when six rounds were fired from a passing motorcycle outside the Evin Restaurant on Kingsland High Street, Hackney, on May 29 last year.
Prosecutors said the attack was part of a prolonged and bloody rivalry between organised crime groups known as the Hackney Turks and the Tottenham Turks. The three men who were shot — identified in court as Mustafa Kiziltan, 35; Kenan Aydogdu, 45; and Nasser Ali, 44 — were described as affiliated with the Hackney Turks. The gunman who fired the shots from the motorcycle has not been traced, and police released CCTV images showing a rider on a stolen Ducati Monster.
Sentencing Riley, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the feud between the groups had led to a series of "tit for tat" murders and attempted murders in London and overseas over the past decade. The judge said Riley had played a key role before, during and after the shooting.
Evidence presented at the three-week trial included testimony and police recordings indicating that Riley carried out reconnaissance of the restaurant, scouted potential targets and drove the gunman away in a stolen car that was later found burned out. Riley admitted conducting reconnaissance, spotting targets and collecting the gunman, but said during his trial that he believed he was involved in a "smash-and-grab" robbery rather than a targeted shooting. He later told police the gunman said to him, "Shots have been fired. I need to get out of here."
The nine-year-old girl spent three months in hospital following the attack and will face lifelong physical and cognitive problems, the court heard, because the bullet remains lodged in her brain. The three adult victims sustained gunshot wounds to an arm, a leg and a thigh.
Riley, who was born in Jamaica, has a string of convictions dating back to 2008 for offences including possession of cannabis and cocaine, driving offences and possession of an offensive weapon and a blade in his car. He admitted involvement in other criminality including car theft, drug dealing and robberies, but said he had not been caught for those offences.
Prosecutors told jurors Riley had links to members of the Tottenham Turks and was paid a reported sum in the tens of thousands of pounds to assist. During the trial he was asked to identify the "third party" who recruited him for around £40,000; he refused to do so in court, citing fear for his life and that of his family.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police urged anyone with information about the rider who fired the shots to come forward and said they were offering a reward of up to £15,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution. CCTV images released by officers show a motorcyclist believed to be the shooter travelling along Kingsland High Street around the time of the attack.
Prosecutors also referred to recent incidents they said were linked to the same networks, including the shooting of Izzet Eren in Moldova on July 10 last year, which authorities suspected might have been a revenge attack. Riley's conviction and sentence conclude the trial against the man accused of facilitating the May 2024 attack, but the investigation into the person who fired the shots remains ongoing.