A former lawyer accused of helping a plot to murder the boss of the feared Tottenham Turks gang can be extradited to Moldova to stand trial, a judge has ruled.
Toper Hassan, 58, is accused of organising logistics for the fatal shooting of Izzet Eren in the Moldovan capital of Chișinău in July last year.
The murder is believed to be part of a long-running feud between Eren’s organised crime group and their rivals, the Hackney Bombers.
At Westminster magistrates court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring agreed to Hassan’s extradition despite the former lawyer – who was struck off in 2013 – arguing that his life would be in danger if he is sent to stand trial.
Hassan is accused of being recruited into the murder plot by his brother-in-law, Kemal Armagan. The court heard the two men allegedly visited Chișinău in June last year, and booked out accommodation in apartments for several weeks.
“An unstable 9mm calibre weapon, ammunition for the weapon, an electric bicycle, camouflage clothes were purchased, and a car was rented”, said the judge, outlining the case against Hassan.
It is said those involved in the murder plot tracked Eren’s daily routine, and after receiving information that he was in a café on July 10 Armagan is said to have dressed in camouflage, armed himself with the gun, and taken the electric bicycle to the location.
“Around 11.30am Armagan approached Eren and fired seven shots at his head and back, instantaneously killing him”, said the judge, in his extradition ruling.
Hassan is accused of destroying evidence after the shooting, the court heard.
The judge added that the shooting comes as part of “a wider pattern of inter gang violence”, including “interlinked shootings and transnational retribution killings”.
Hassan, while fighting extradition, said he had received an official Met Police warning about a plot to kill him.
The shooting of Eren is said to be a revenge attack by Armagan for the 2012 murder of his brother Ali Armagan in a shooting outside Turnpike Lane tube station in north London.
Hassan, a dual UK and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus citizen, is currently being held in maximum security Belmarsh Prison.
He argued that his extradition should be blocked due to the political motivations of the prosecution in Moldova, on safety grounds including fear of reprisals in a Moldovan prison, and under Article 8 of the ECHR depriving him of a right to a private and family life.
But the judge said he “found no credible evidence that the request was politically driven or that Mr Hassan’s trial or detention would be prejudiced for political reasons”.
He acknowledged “systemic problems in Moldova’s prisons”, but received assurances about Hassan’s safety from the country’s Ministry of Justice
And the judge refused to block extradition on human rights grounds, concluding Hassan would not suffer “exceptionally severe” consequences by being sent to face trial.
The Judge’s decision has been sent to the Home Secretary for a final decision on extradition.
