Islington gangster had shootout in front of police

Sina Naroei, 24, who lives off Southgate Road, Islington, and is affiliated to the “Holly Street Boys”, was walking along Kingsland Road, Dalston, at 10pm on April 14 when rival Ozgur Ozdemir passed on a motorbike.

Ozdemir, of the “A Road Gang”, was riding pillion and flashed a gun, at which point Naroei, wearing a bandana across his face, pulled his own and began firing at the pair.

Ozdemir and the driver fell from their bike and fled to shops where Ozdemir pulled out his own gun and began returning fire.

The drama unfolded in front of an unmarked police car carrying officers from Operation Trident, the Metropolitan Police’s unit tackling gun crime in the black community, who were investigating the shooting of Agnes Sina-inakoju.

Agnes, from the De Beauvoir Estate, off Southgate Road, Islington, had been shot just hours earlier in a chicken shop in Hoxton and passed away a few days later.

A 21-year-old man was hit in the leg during the shootout between Naroei and Ozdemir and taken to hospital before being discharged the following day.

Trident officers who witnessed the gunfight managed to identify Naroei despite attempts to hide his face with a scarf.

Detective Constable Neil Whitbread said: “This was a reckless act played out between two rivals in a busy Hackney street.

“Shots were fired by both parties with no thought to the risk they posed to innocent members of the public, who unbelievably were not injured.

“Operation Trident is committed to taking men of violence off the streets. Working with the community, we will continue to work tirelessly in order to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice.”

Naroei was found guilty of possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday.

Ozdemir, of Clapton, pleaded guilty to the same charges at an earlier hearing.

Both men will be sentenced on December 3.