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Man guilty over role in shooting of nine-year-old girl in Dalston

1755177063 545 grey placeholder Man guilty over role in shooting of nine-year-old girl in DalstonMet Police Javon Riley mugshotMet Police

Javon Riley was found guilty of three charges of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent

A man has been found guilty over his role in a gangland shooting that left a nine-year-old girl with a bullet lodged in her brain.

Javon Riley, 33, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to the girl who was hit in the head by the first of six bullets fired from a passing motorbike at the Evin Restaurant in Kingsland High Street in Hackney, east London, on 29 May 2024.

Riley was also found guilty of attempting to murder three men – Mustafa Kiziltan, 35, Kenan Aydogdu, 45, and Nasser Ali, 44 – who were sitting at tables outside the restaurant that night.

The girl was an innocent victim of a bitter tit-for-tat feud between rival Turkish gangs, the Old Bailey heard.

1755177063 545 grey placeholder Man guilty over role in shooting of nine-year-old girl in DalstonPA Media Exterior of restaurant after shooting with police tape cordoning the scenePA Media

The nine-year-old girl was having dinner with her family

“In a single moment, the future we had imagined for our daughter was torn away,” the girl’s mother said.

“She was once an energetic, adventurous child – everything that celebrated movement, energy, and life.

“Now, weakness on her left side means she can only watch from the sidelines, living with a titanium plate in her skull and a bullet still in her brain.”

She added: “As parents, we are shattered – emotionally, physically, mentally, and financially.

“Each day brings new challenges, from her slower growth on one side to the emotional and mental scars that cannot be seen.”

The gunman and the weapon have never been found although the motorbike used in the shooting – a Ducati Monster with a white body, red chassis and red wheels – was later found.

Police have offered a £15,000 reward “for information that leads to the identification, arrest of and prosecution the man who fired the weapon”.