Latest news with #Ozmen
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Stoke Newington murder feared to be gang war attack linked to shooting of girl, 9
Shooting victim Erdal Ozmen was a member of the Hackney Bombers gang who were the suspected targets of a drive-by shooting that left a nine-year-old girl fighting for her life A senior member of a gang targeted in a drive-by shooting that left a young girl fighting for her life has been gunned down. Erdal Ozmen, 45, was killed on Dynevor Road in Stoke Newington, north east London, in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid fears it was a revenge attack. Ozmen was part of the Hackney Bombers organised crime group who have waged a long and bloody battle with rivals the Tottenham Turks. The violence left a nine-year-old girl with a bullet in the head in May last year when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire on the Evin restaurant, around half a mile from where Ozmen was killed. It is believed the youngster was caught in the crossfire as the Tottenham Turks attempted to kill members of the Hackney Bombers group who were sitting outside. Six weeks later, senior Tottenham Turks member Izzet Eren, 41, was shot and killed outside a cafe in Chisinau, Moldova, in what is believed to be a tit-for-tat attack. Detectives are now understood to be investigating whether Tuesday's shooting was retaliation for the killing of Eren. A law enforcement source said of the shootings: "I think it's the same war." But the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Wednesday that the motive for Ozmen's killing "remains unclear" and no arrests have been made. He was found with gunshot injuries just after midnight on Tuesday. One man posted on Facebook: "They treacherously shot my brother. May god punish the culprits. My heart aches for Erdal, may his memory live forever." CCTV shows the suspected gunman escaping in a black Kia sport's car with the help of a getaway driver who calmly stops at traffic lights seconds after the shooting. A friend of the dead man told the Mail: "Someone shot him in the back then came back and kicked him and shot him another two times. When they left, they waited 25 seconds at the traffic lights. They didn't hide their face, no masks, nothing." Det Chief Insp Dave Whellams, who is leading the investigation into Tuesday's shooting, said: 'We continue to appeal for witnesses to come forward following the fatal shooting of Erdal. He was a father-of-one and was deeply loved by his family. 'Today, we are asking the public for assistance. Were you in the Dynevor Road area late on Monday night into early Tuesday morning? Did you see anyone acting out of the ordinary? Did you hear anything at all which perhaps seemed unusual - maybe people shouting, or a loud vehicle? The smallest piece of information could play a significant role in our investigation.' Liza Dodds, 58, a youth worker who lives nearby, said: "My husband woke up and said there was gunshots. The instant reaction was 'how do you know?' We both got up and had a look. A police officer was doing CPR where the person fell. It seemed like they were going forever." Another resident said: "I heard a few gunshots and the first thing I thought was that it was fireworks, because you don't expect it to be a gun. I was trying to sleep but then later I heard sirens from the police cars." Scotland Yard said the man's next of kin have been told and a post-mortem examination will take place. Ozmen was jailed for 15 years after a Turkish man was shot on the forecourt of a petrol station in Tottenham, north London, in October 2003. The judge described the offence as "gang warfare on the streets of London". Ozmen admitted blackmail, possession of a firearm, wounding with intent and arson. The court heard that he operated for the Hackney Bombers within the Turkish Kurdish community in north London, "ruthlessly" exploiting his "own countryman". They collected protection money and practised extortion, had access to weapons and used and threatened violence to achieve their ends, the court heard. Ozmen was sentenced alongside Bombers founder, drug kingpin Abdullah Baybasin. Also in the dock was Ibrahim Aslan, who got 13 years and went on to see three of his relatives shot dead in London and Turkey as part of the gang war. Aslan, 40, posted a chilling message in July last year hours after Eren was shot. Below popping champagne corks emojis, he warned: "If you are my friend you stay alive, if you are my enemy you will be f****d." Eren was thought to have been killed in retaliation for ordering the drive-by attack in May 2024 that left the girl fighting for her life. The victim, visiting from Birmingham with her parents, was hit in the head by a stray bullet which has remained lodged in her brain. They said: "She only went there for ice cream and now we do not know if she will be able to ever speak or move properly again." One of the men targeted was said to be in the rival Hackney Bomber gang. He was previously shot in the neck by a possible Tottenham Turks member. The gangs' murderous tit-for-tat feud erupted after a man of 50 died following a club fight in 2009. A hitman hired to exact revenge was jailed for life after blasting two men in a case of mistaken identity. More bloodshed followed and in 2012 when Izzet Eren's brother, Kemel "No Fingers" Eren, said to be the leader of the Turks, was shot in Elbistan, Turkey. The Bombers also hired Jamie Marsh-Smith to murder Zafer Eren, another relative. Marsh-Smith put on a Guy Fawkes-style mask and shot Zafer in the back as he walked into his home in Southgate, North London, in April, 2013. Marsh-Smith escaped in the back of a Peugeot 308 driven by Samuel Zerei, whom he shot and wounded four days later as he feared he would "blabber". In 2014, Marsh-Smith, of Manor House, North London, was convicted of murder and two counts of attempted murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 38 years. Zerei, of Newington Green, North London, was found guilty of murder was sentenced to at least 28 years. In December 2015 armed police thwarted a bid to free Izzet Eren, 33, from a custody van outside Wood Green Crown Court, North London. Eren was serving 14 years after he was caught with a machine gun while allegedly on his way to carry out a hit. The violence appears to have reignited in late 2022. Turkish DJ Mehmet Koray Alpergin, 43, was tortured in an empty wine bar close to Tottenham Hotspur's stadium. Mr Alpergin, 43, was beaten, throttled, burned and stabbed before his body was dumped in an Essex woodland.
Daily Mirror
23-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
DWP errors mean thousands of PIP claimants could be owed more than £5,000
The DWP has made a string of serious administrative errors which have seen PIP claimants wrongly denied vital support or underpaid - and now thousands could be owed over £5,000 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) blunder could mean thousands of Personal Independence Payment claimants are due more than £5,000 each. A series of administrative errors has left many disabled people either without crucial support or underpaid, with mistakes dating back years. Some claims were incorrectly dismissed from people lacking a National Insurance number, even though it's not a requirement for PIP eligibility. Over the past year alone, the DWP has reviewed 455 such cases, paying out £500,000 in arrears, reports Birmingham Live. Ayla Ozmen, policy director at anti-poverty charity Z2K, cautioned that benefits underpayment errors could inflict "significant financial hardship" on disabled people. "We are calling on the DWP to do everything it can to ensure that these errors are corrected as soon as possible," Ozmen stated. "We are calling on the DWP to do everything it can to ensure that these errors are corrected as soon as possible," Ozmen said. Former Liberal Democrat DWP minister Sir Steve Webb has suggested that the review of social support-related PIP cases "could perhaps have been processed more promptly". He also remarked that addressing all benefits underpayment issues was "the right thing to do". And Ozmen stressed the importance of ministers engaging with disabled people on reforms, stating it was "vital" to avoid "instead of making a bad system even worse". A DWP spokesperson assured that the department is "fully committed to identifying claimants that are owed money and providing the financial support to which they are entitled as quickly as possible". They said the views of disabled people would be central "at the heart of a ministerial review of PIP, to ensure the benefit is fit and fair for the future".
