Schoolboy hitman, 15, 'was paid £200 to gun down mother in contract killing over custody of her son'

Gulistan Subasi, 26, was gunned down on the doorstep of her mother's Hackney home in March last year



A 15-year-old hitman shot a young mother in a contract killing over the custody of her nine-year-old son, a court has heard.



Gulistan Subasi, 26, was gunned down on her own mother's doorstep at a flat in Hackney, East London, in March last year, jurors were told.



She was said to have been murdered because ex-partner Serdar Ozbek feared she would take their child out of the country, the Old Bailey heard.



Ozbek allegedly set up the killing in a 'swift and murderous' response to a series of phone calls with her.



Victor Temple QC, prosecuting, said: 'The prospect of losing custody, compounded by a loss of face, caused Serdar Ozbek to take an extreme but far from unknown course - namely to contract out the murder of Gulistan.'



Since he wanted to 'keep his hands clean', the person 'chosen to pull the trigger' had to be someone with no links to Ozbek's family or the Turkish community, said Mr Temple.



A number of others took part in the conspiracy, to recruit the killer and carry out reconnaissance, the court heard.



Ozbek, 28, of Wood Green, North London, denies murder together with the alleged gunman, now 16, who cannot be named.



Izak Billy, 21, of Willesden, Paul Nicolaou, 28, of Tottenham, Leigh Bryan, 25, of Hornsey, and another 16-year-old youth also deny the charge.



The alleged gunman later told a friend he had been recruited by Billy to carry out the shooting.



Mr Temple said: 'Quite unexpectedly, possibly a boast or possibly to relieve himself of a burden, [the 15 year-old] said he had been paid by Izak Billy to carry out the shooting.



'The weapon that he used was a shotgun, that he knocked at the door and shot whoever answered it.'



The teenager also gave a number of telling details such as the fact there was a fence or a gate on the door.



At first he claimed he had shot a man, in another conversation he admitted he had shot a Turkish girl, the court heard.



'The Crown suggest he had been deliberately misled by those who instructed him. The target was always meant to be Gulistan,' said Mr Temple.



The teenager also claimed that Billy had been paid 'thousands of pounds'.



'He went on to claim that he had received a mere £200 to carry out this killing,' said Mr Temple.



Mr Temple said Miss Subasi was 'attractive' and 'independent' but at times her behaviour and choice of company could be 'questionable'.



She had run away from home to live with Ozbek and they had a son together, but they later split up and she left Britain for Turkey, leaving the child with her own mother. The boy then went to live with his father.



Miss Subasi, who would return from time to time to see her son, arrived in London in March last year for a brief visit. She was due to marry in Turkey in May.



There were then a series of phone calls between her and Ozbek, who was himself in Turkey at the time.



'The subject matter was the catalyst for the swift and murderous response by Serdar Ozbek.'



Ozbek then began 'setting in motion the necessary arrangements to carry out a contract killing', jurors were told.



Relations between he and his former partner had become 'volatile and acrimonious', said Mr Temple.



'It was clear Serdar Ozbek could not impose his will upon Gulistan,' he added.



There was the 'distinct possibility' that she would trying or had already taken steps to take away their son to Turkey, the court heard.



Earlier jurors heard how Gulistan was found lying in the doorway to the flat with a large gunshot wound, described as being the size of a tennis ball, just above her right breast.



Police arrived at the scene to find her being cradled by her mother. All attempts to revive her failed and she was declared dead shortly after 9pm.



The trial continues.

