A fugitive whose attempt to escape from prison in London led to a man being shot dead in 2015 has been recaptured in Moldova and is now facing extradition back to the UK.
Izzet Eren, 39, is one of the leaders of the Tottenham Turks gang, which has been involved in a long-running feud with its arch-rivals the Bombacilars (Bombers) from Hackney, leading to more than a dozen deaths since 2009.
On Dec. 11, 2015, his criminal associates plotted to free, or “spring” him from a prison van as it took him to a hearing at Wood Green Crown Court.
But Scotland Yard had been tipped off and the bid to free him was aborted after 28-year-old Jermaine Baker was shot dead by police as he waited in a car near the courthouse. Baker was unarmed but a replica Uzi submachine gun was found in his car.
A public inquiry into Baker’s death concluded last year and is due to report later this year.
Eren, a Turkish national, was eventually convicted and jailed for 21 years for firearms offences but was transferred back to Turkey in August 2019 to serve the rest of his sentence. He absconded from a Turkish jail a month later and has been a fugitive ever since.
Matthew Butt QC, counsel for the Metropolitan Police, told the Jermaine Baker Inquiry in June 2021: “Izzet Eren’s determination to escape has subsequently been demonstrated by his escape from custody in Turkey following his deportation there to serve the remainder of his prison sentence after the events of Operation Ankaa.”
The Metropolitan Police’s Commander Fiona Mallon thanked the Moldovan authorities for their help in catching Eren and said: “This arrest sends a clear message to all those who commit serious crime in London: if you run, we will locate you and you will be brought to justice.”
Izzet Eren’s cousin, Kemal Eren, is also a fugitive from justice.
In 2012, Ali Armagan, one of the leaders of the Hackney Turks, was shot dead in London and at the subsequent Old Bailey trial, prosecutor Ed Brown QC told the jury: “Kemal Eren is wanted in connection with this killing. Had he not fled the country, he would have been arrested.”
Eren was not the first serious criminal to abscond from prison in their home country after being sent back from Britain to serve the rest of their sentence.
In 2008 Hekuran Billa was jailed for a minimum term of 34 years for a murder committed in London and was later sent to an Albanian prison but he was later released and in June 2020 he was shot dead in the capital, Tirana.
In August 2020, the Home Office told The Epoch Times in a statement that 80 foreign nationals serving life sentences or indeterminate sentences had been deported back to their home country to serve the rest of their sentence since 2015.
