Doctors feared the nine-year-old would not survive after she was hit in the head by a stray bullet but surgeons saved her and she is now ‘walking, talking and playing with her friends’
A young girl who will have a bullet lodged in her brain for life after being caught in the crossfire of a gangland attack has made a “miraculous” recovery, police have revealed.
But the nine-year-old, who was hit when a gunman on a Ducati Monster motorbike opened fire, will suffer “physical and cognitive difficulties throughout her life”, a court heard. Javon Riley, 33, was today found guilty of helping the would-be assassin, who detectives are still hunting. It comes after a leading member of the gang targeted in the shooting was gunned down earlier this month in an attack that a source suspects is “part of the same war”.
Riley, from Tottenham, north London, was convicted at the Old Bailey of three charges of attempted murder and a charge of causing grievous bodily harm to the girl. Three men in the target group were hit by separate shots. Kenan Aydogdu, 45, Mustafa Kiziltan, 38, and Nasser Ali, 43, all survived the attack. Despite doctors fearing the girl would not pull through, the youngster is now walking and talking, has returned to school and is playing with her friends, a detective has revealed.
READ MORE: Hackney Bomber gang member gunned down after girl, 9, shot in headREAD MORE: Ex-lawyer fears for his life if extradited over plot to murder gang boss, court hearsREAD MORE: Drug lord accused of ‘flooding UK with heroin’ and ‘masterminding string of murders’
The girl spent three months in Great Ormond Street Hospital, much of it in a stable but critical condition, where sections of her skull were removed to relieve swelling to her brain and replaced with a titanium plate. She was eating an ice cream with her family at Evin restaurant in Hackney, north east London, when she was shot in May last year.
Speaking outside court after Riley was convicted, Det Chief Insp Ben Dalloway said: “It has had a huge impact on her life, the bullet is still lodged in her brain and they will never be able to take it out. It is always going to be there and she is never going to be able to forget it.
“But miraculously she has made a really good recovery. She is walking, talking and communicating, going to school, and playing with her friends. Having said that, naturally there will still be some difficulties she will face cognitively.
“Bearing in mind everyone thought she was going to die on the day it has been a miraculous recovery. I’d just like to say how well the surgeons did to save her life.” It comes just over a year after the girl’s family spoke of their fears that their daughter would never fully recover. They said: “We are devastated about what has happened. Our daughter remains stable but in a critical condition.
“She only went there for ice cream and now we do not know if we will ever get our daughter back to being the smart, funny girl that she was before and whether she will be able to ever speak or move properly again. We need our child back and we are all praying for her full recovery.”
The girl, who lived in Birmingham, had been visiting relatives in London on her half-term holiday. They had gone to Evin, a popular Turkish restaurant on Kingsland High Street in Dalston, north east London, when an armed man on a motorbike pulled up at 9.19pm and fired a volley of shots.
The court was told that while Riley was not a member of the Tottenham Turks, his secretly recorded conversations show he was linked to the gang and that they were behind the shooting. He was heard talking about the murder of leading Tottenham Turks member Izzet Eren, 41, who detectives suspect ordered the Dalston attack.
Eren was shot and killed outside a cafe in Chisinau, Moldova, in July last year in what is believed to be a tit-for-tat murder. Senior Hackney Bomber Erdal Ozmen, 45, was gunned down earlier this month around half a mile from the Evin restaurant amid fears it was yet another revenge attack.
Detectives are now understood to be investigating whether Ozmen’s murder was retaliation for the killing of Eren. A law enforcement source told the Mirror: “I think it’s the same war.”
