Turkish‑British "Beyto" Sentenced to Life for Murder of Restaurant Owner The long‑running case of Beytullah Gunduz, a high‑ranking Turkish crime boss, ends with a life sentence after he was convicted of ordering the shooting of Onur Guzel outside a London restaurant. The story traces Gunduz's rise within the Hackney Turks, the violent feud with the Tottenham Turks, and the police efforts that led to his arrest and conviction. Beytullah Gunduz, a 40‑year‑old Turkish‑British gangster, has now been convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment after a long career of involvement in organised crime in London's east. The case, which has 80 prior convictions stretching back to the early 2000s, finally culminated in a courtroom decision that will keep the former "Mr Big" of the Hackney Turks incarcerated for at least twenty years. The trial was a high‑profile event at the Old Bailey, held after police spent more than a decade tracking Gunduz through a series of attempts to kill rivals and to protect his position within the Turkish criminal underworld. Gunduz's notoriety began early.Early Life And Gang Influences In HackneyBorn in Turkey in 1986, he immigrated to the United Kingdom as a child and attended a secondary school in Hackney, an area with a large Turkish and Kurdish community. While not academically inclined, he quickly fell under the influence of local gangs that exerted little resistance to a police‑heavy patrol.He became an important figure within the Hackney Turks, a street‑level organisation also known as the Bombacilar, which dominated the heroin trade in Britain in the early 2000s, controlling an estimated ninety per cent of the supply entering the country. Reports from retired officers such as Dal Babu, who survived a botched hit in the 1980s, describe the gang's "legendary ruthlessness" and their ability to "hold a real grip on communities"; the police were simply overwhelmed by the violent violence and drug activity.As the 2010s progressed, Gunduz's reputation as a hit‑man grew. He was suspected of hiring a sniper to kill Zafer Eren, the godfather of the Tottenham Turks, in 2013. Although he was later found not guilty in court, insiders and police sources firmly believed he was behind the murder. In 2014 a £200,000 bounty was offered on his life by his rivals, but the police have reported that no one ever collected it.Violent Threats And Police WarningsThe Metropolitan Police issued him an "Osman warning" in 2019, a system designed to alert potential targets of an imminent threat to their lives. The next year, a gun jam stopped a fatal attempt on his life and, in 2024, he was narrowly avoided deadly crossfire that left a nine‑year‑old girl with a bullet lodged in her brain. Despite the violent scenes he was involved in, Gunduz's criminal record for most of his life consisted of relatively minor offences.He spent a brief period of three months in prison in 2019 for dangerous driving and threatening behaviour, but remained largely free. Last month, however, the Duggle announced a major shift as he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of twenty years after being convicted of ordering the shooting of Onur Guzel, a thirty‑eight‑year‑old restaurateur. The murder unfolded outside the Umut 2000 Turkish restaurant in Dalston, east London.Gunman Dogan Over escaped to Istanbul with the body‑guard and remains at large. While the victim survived the shooting, he sustained serious injuries. Gunduz's court appearance was a major moment in the fight against organised crime in London. During the hearing he refused to attend from Thameside Prison, citing fear that he would be killed while in attendance.Court Evidence And Dual Community PersonaThe prosecution, however, presented CCTV footage that showed a man clenching a gunbill as the body‑guard walked toward the victim's vehicle. While in custody, Gunduz repeatedly denied any affiliation to the Hackney Turks and insisted that he had never authorized any murder, yet the court found decisive evidence that he had conspired to commit the crime. The case revealed Gunduz's dual personality within the community.A source, who described himself as "Yilmaz" for safety, said that Gunduz was "very charming toward women, very popular in the community and among his gang." Yet in conflicts, he was "fearful and intimidating. " Gunduz also fathered a child with a woman living in north London. His long‑term girlfriend, Eylem Kahraman, a twenty‑one‑year‑old solicitor, was jailed for three years in January 2018 for attempting to influence a witness in a kidnapping trial. Police and investigators noted that the relationship contributed to the many legal entanglements that followed Gunduz's life.Life Sentence Signals Historic CrackdownThrough a series of high‑profile incidents, steps of organised crime, and a ruthless drive for power, Gunduz's criminal career has become a cautionary tale in London. The life sentence marks a historic moment in the fight against the powerful Hackney Turks and is a signal that tackling organised crime will come with ever‑increasing repercussions for those who cross the line.From three centuries niche organizations, to the modern complex identities created by migration, this story underscores the continued difficulty faced by law enforcement authorities in controlling the edgy underworld dominated by ethnic enclaves that rely upon loyalty and violence for profit. With the new sentencing, it remains to be seen how other criminal elements will respond, but experts suggest that pages of hate are being rewritten "once the authorities bring about an outcome that also sends a message of fatal punishment to the most dangerous criminals in the city. "