The man who shot and killed a Scottish toddler in a Turkish café almost 14 years ago has been gunned down at his own wedding.

Daimi Akyuz was shot dead on Saturday only six days after he had been released from prison.

The 46-year-old former car salesman had been jailed for life for killing two-and-a-half-year-old Alistair Grimason in the Aegean seaside town of Foca in 2003.

A stray bullet hit the toddler as he slept in a pushchair next to his mother after a fight over a mobile phone broke out nearby.

Dami Akyuz (pictured) was shot dead on Saturday just six days after being released from prison

Two-and-a-half-year-old Alistair Grimason (pictured) was killed in the Aegean seaside town of Foca in 2003

Akyuz was released early from prison and, according to reports in the Turkish media, was shot at his wedding after stepping outside to smoke.

It is understood police are questioning five people in relation to the murder and are attempting to trace a suspect who was in prison with the killer.

Several Turkish newspapers have reported that a man wearing a hood approached the groom and opened fire. At the time, Akyuz was with a friend who is understood to have been injured in the attack.

Last night, Alistair's father David said he didn't 'take any joy' in learning that the man who killed his child is now dead after serving less than half of his sentence.

Mr Grimason, from East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, said: 'I was told that he was at his wedding and stepped outside for a cigarette and someone came along and shot him.

'I don't want to see anyone lose their life, especially in those sort of circumstances. It is ironic – he was not scared to use guns and that is how he was killed himself, but I don't want to see that. We campaigned for a long time about gun crime in Turkey.

'Some people might feel I should be pleased that he has been killed but I don't take any comfort from that at all. I almost feel sorry for him in a way, or certainly for his family. He had two children and they have lost their father.

'I don't take any joy in what has happened.'

The toddler was with his Turkish-born mother Ozlem on holiday when he was fatally wounded by a stray bullet in July 2003.

As the pair, along with Alistair's grandmother, were at a quiet pavement café for dinner, an argument about a mobile phone broke out at a nearby table. Akyuz pulled a gun on three people and opened fire.

Terrified, the mother fled with her son still in his pushchair after six shots were fired. At first she did not know Alistair had been killed, but looked down and saw blood.

At the time her husband was back at home in Scotland, having left his wife with her relatives a few days earlier.

He learned of the heart breaking news that his son had been killed after returning home from a night shift, when his wife called him in tears.

David Grimason and his wife Ozlem (left) attended the court case which involved Akyuz (right)

In 2004, Daimi Akyuz attended a court in Izmir, Turkey, after being accused of killing British toddler Alistair Grimason

After the shooting, Akyuz fled the scene. A massive operation in the Karsiyaka district of Izmir led to his arrest at the house of a relative where he had been hiding.

He later made a tearful confession on camera to police and admitted causing Alistair's death, although he denied murder.

A judge found him guilty of deliberately killing the toddler and guilty of murdering Ali Bektas, a mobile salesman. Two other men were seriously injured in the shooting.

Addressing the court, Akyuz said: 'I didn't kill on purpose. My one fault is showing the gun and people attacked me and grabbed my hand and I regret very much what happened.'

He was sentenced to a total of 58 years in prison, although he was only ever expected to spend 36 years behind bars – the maximum allowed in Turkey. After the verdict, Alistair's mother said: 'I hate him and I've never hated anyone in my life.

'He is trying to say he is nice and innocent and I hate him saying he feels sorry for Alistair. I just wanted to shout at him. I will never be able to forgive him. He had ruined our lives forever.'

Akyuz was released from jail a few weeks ago, having served less than half of his sentence.

A source in Turkey said prisons are 'overflowing' since the attempted coup last year and a number of inmates, who had served more than ten years, were offered early release.

David and Ozlem Grimason (pictured) arrived at a court in Turkey in 2004

Alistair's family were not told the killer had been freed, and Mr Grimason only learned Akyuz had been murdered after a family friend from Turkey got in touch through Facebook.

Mr Grimason, who has since split from Alistair's mother, said: 'Ozlem has moved back to Turkey recently, so there was an opportunity they could have bumped in to each other. It is a horrible thought. No one informed us that he was being let out.'

He continued: 'I don't understand why they would let out anyone who was as dangerous as he was. The first thing I felt was a bit of anger that he was out of prison. Thirteen-and-a-half years is about a third of the sentence he was supposed to have served.

'We always had that little peace of mind that he was being punished for his crime. That was his punishment – to be in jail.'

Mr Grimason said that when Akyuz was sentenced, the authorities had assured him that his son's killer would serve the full 36 years in prison. He added: 'Alistair is always with us and we will always think about him.

'He didn't get to enjoy life. When I first heard I thought this guy has been allowed out to enjoy life – it was a real sense of disappointment.'

After his son's death, Mr Grimason campaigned for tighter gun controls and has devoted his time to pressing for a global clampdown on the trade in weapons.

He had warned that the gun culture in Turkey was not being addressed, with those who commit gun crimes not given tough enough sentences. During the trial, Mr Grimason learned that only ten days before Alistair died, Akyuz had been arrested for firing a gun outside a supermarket. Despite the serious nature of the offence, police let him go a few days later.

The news that Alistair's killer has himself has been shot dead has led to his father reliving painful memories of what happened almost 14 years ago.

'It brings it all back but it is almost like a conclusion as well,' Mr Grimason said. 'We didn't have to worry about him because he was in jail but in a way he is gone now. I'm not pleased he is dead, I would rather he was in jail.

'Over the years I had tried to forget his face. I had to see him over and over again in court for a number of months until he was finally sentenced.'

He added: 'He should never have been in my life. I should never have known who this person was. I think it is a tragedy for his family as well. The whole thing is just horrible.

'He would be alive if he was still in jail and that is the disappointment for me.'