A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 34 years for his role in a gang-related shooting in Hackney, east London, which left a nine-year-old girl with a bullet lodged in her brain. Javon Riley, from Tottenham, was convicted at the Old Bailey last month of causing grievous harm with intent to the girl and attempting to murder three men.
The shooting occurred on 29 May last year outside the Evin restaurant on Kingsland High Street. The girl was eating ice-cream with her family when a gunman on a Ducati Monster motorbike fired six bullets, striking her in the head. Three men at a nearby table were also injured. The attack was part of an ongoing feud between the Tottenham Turks and Hackney Turks gangs.
Sentencing Riley, Judge Lucraft KC described the incident as 'mindless violence' that had left the girl and her family with life-changing injuries. The judge noted that the feud has seen a series of tit-for-tat murders and attempted murders over the past decade. Riley played a 'key role' in the attack, conducting reconnaissance, scouting targets, and driving the gunman away in a stolen car that was later burned out.
The nine-year-old victim spent three months in hospital and will suffer lifelong physical and cognitive problems due to the bullet remaining in her brain. In a victim impact statement read to the court, her mother said the family had moved to the UK seeking a 'brighter future' but now lives with 'constant fear' and 'unbearable guilt'. The mother described how the girl's joyful spirit is now 'wrapped in layers of frustration and silent pain'.
The gunman remains at large, and Scotland Yard has offered up to £15,000 for information leading to his arrest. Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke urged anyone with information to come forward, saying: 'The dangerous man responsible for pulling the trigger is walking free, and it is imperative we find him.'
