Ismail Tanrikulu

Ismail Tanrikulu was shot in Tottenham Cemetery on Monday 3 September 2018.

He was found in the cemetery at 7.53am and the London Ambulance Service was called out but he died soon after they arrived at the scene.

He had been shot through the arm, the bullet then passing through into his abdomen, causing fatal internal injuries.

A 21-year-old man was tried for his murder but acquitted at The Old Bailey on 8 March 2019.

It was claimed that there had been bad blood between the two of them after the theft of some cannabis and that the 21-year-old man had gone to the cemetery with a second person, acting as a team, and that they had had a gun, to meet Ismail Tanrikulu and that one of the men had shot him.

The other man that was said to have been involved with the shooting, and who the defence claimed was the actual gunman, fled to Turkey a few days after the murder.

Following the murder a Detective Chief Inspector said, 'I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone who may have been in the grounds of the cemetery or in the vicinity of Fryatt Road or Jellicoe Road on the morning of Monday, 3 September, between 7am and 8am'.

The 21-year-old man and Ismail Tanrikulu had up until recently been friends but it was heard that they had met up in the cemetery to resolve their bad blood after it was said that Ismail Tanrikulu had stolen some cannabis from the 21-year-old man.

The 21-year-old man said that he had gone to the cemetery with his cousin in his Audi car, however, the man that fled was also seen to be there in CCTV footage and it was claimed by the prosecution that they had gone together as a team.

The 21-year-old man said that he had met Ismail Tanrikulu in the cemetery and that as he was walking away from him that he heard Ismail Tanrikulu shout out, 'you think it's me' and then some gunshots.

The other man who fled to Turkey however was seen in CCTV footage at the cemetery, entering with the 21-year-old man, carrying a man bag over his shoulder in which he was said to have had a loaded gun and it was claimed that he and the 21-year-old man had gone to the cemetery together to deal with Ismail Tanrikulu.

The cousin said that he had driven the 21-year-old man there in his Audi car and after he had got out of the car to go into the cemetery that he had parked up and waited in his car.

The cousin said that he then heard someone shout, 'you think it's me' shortly before hearing two loud bangs and that he then reversed his car to get a better look and saw Ismail Tanrikulu lying on the ground with his head down and holding his side. He said that the third man with the man bag then pointed the bag towards him which prompted him to drive off in his car at speed.

At the trial, the prosecution said that the identities of the men in the cemetery were not in dispute but that the circumstances of the shooting were. They said that the arrangements for the 21-year-old man and Ismail Tanrikulu to meet at the cemetery had been made that morning by phone, noting that the bad blood that did exist was between the 21-year-old man and Ismail Tanrikulu and not the third man or the cousin. The prosecution said that they had arranged by phone to 'amicably' resolve a falling out.

The prosecution submitted that when the men had met up at the cemetery that Ismail Tanrikulu had become aggressive and that the third man had stepped in.

The 21-year-old man said that as he walked away from the scene that he had heard a shot and was later told that the shot was from Ismail Tanrikulu's gun.