Ex-lawyer fears for his life if extradited over plot to murder gang boss
A former lawyer who married into one of Britain's most notorious gangs fears for his life if he is extradited to Moldova on murder plot charges, a court has heard.
Toper Hassan, 58, is accused of helping to plan the fatal shooting of Izzet Eren, the boss of the Tottenham Turks organised crime group, in the capital Chisiau on July 10 last year. Hassan is said to have been recruited by his brother-in-law, Kemal Armagan, thought to be a leading member of the rival Hackney Bombers clan who had been wanted by British police since 2009.
Peter Caldwell, KC, for the ex-solicitor who was struck off in 2013, told Westminster Magistrates' Court that Eren's murder was thought to be part of a 16-year "bitter and enduring rivalry". He said it was a bloody conflict in which both sides have "murdered and maimed rival gang members, their families and innocent members of the public."
It involved "violence, arson, shootings and homicides across North London and outside the UK," the court was told. In written submissions, Mr Caldwell added: "As a consequence of this background, Mr Hassan is at severe risk to his life, both presently in the UK and on a continuing basis were he to be extradited to Moldova.
"The evidence establishes that this threat to life is immediate and that his life is at risk from those who have the means, resources and patience to carry out a violent attack on him in custody. On the available evidence however, the Moldovan authorities would not provide reasonable protection against the risk to Mr Hassan were he to be detained there."
In January Hassan was issued with a threat to life warning, previously known as an Osman warning, after Met Police detectives became aware of a plot to kill him, Mr Caldwell said. The court heard that Eren was shot seven times as he sat in a coffee shop by a masked gunman dressed in camouflage and riding an electric bike.
Armagan is believed to have carried out the attack in revenge for the 2012 murder of his brother Ali Armagan who was shot in the neck outside Turnpike Lane tube station in north London, the court heard.
Hassan, who had married Armagan's sister, solicitor Reyhan Armagan, is said to have carried out surveillance on Eren with others during four visits to Moldova in the year before the murder. He is said to have left the country a week before the killing. The dual citizen of the UK and Northern Cyprus, who appeared via videolink from Belmarsh prison on Tuesday, was arrested at Stansted airport in August by National Crime Agency officers.
When Eren was killed Scotland Yard detectives were seeking to extradite him over the importation of 156kg of heroin that had been flown into Heathrow airport from Iran, the court heard. Eren, a Turkish citizen, had been released on bail when he was killed following more than a year in a Moldovan prison. He had complained to a British consulate official of being attacked and blackmailed by fellow inmates during his time in the jail, the court heard.
It was said that Izzet Eren became the head of the Tottenham Turks in 2013 when his older brother Zafer was shot dead. Two years later he was jailed in the UK and deported to Turkey only to smuggle himself back into the country.
A short time later he was stopped by armed police on a stolen motorbike with an associate. They were found in possession of a Tokarov 9mm pistol containing six rounds of ammunition and a Scorpion machine pistol with a full magazine. It is believed that they were on their way to avenge Zafer's murder, the court heard.
Eren was jailed in London for 21 years in 2015 for being armed with a submachine gun to murder a rival. Jermaine Baker, 28, of Tottenham, was shot dead by police in 2015 outside a North London court during a foiled attempt to break Eren out of jail.
Ozcan Eren, 32, was jailed for the bid to free his cousin. Izzet Eren was moved to a jail in Turkey in August 2019 but escaped a month later and made his way to Moldova. A National Crime Agency spokesman said previously: "Toper Hassan, 58, was arrested at Stansted Airport on 29 August 2024 by specialist National Extradition Unit officers from the NCA's Joint International Crime Centre JICC. He is wanted by Moldovan authorities in connection to conspiracy to murder, and extradition proceedings are ongoing." The hearing is expected to last three days.
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