01/06/2012

Three Jailed For Turkish Social Club Arson Attack

Three women were jailed for a combined total of 19 years and four months at court on Wednesday, 30 May 2012 over an arson attack on a Turkish social club in north London, deemed by the judge to be politically and racially motivated.

Two of the women threw four home-made petrol bombs at the Coffee House of the People of Gumushane, because of its Turkish association.

Dilek Dag, 25; Altin Yadirgi, 28; and Dilan Eroglu, 20, pleaded guilty to arson with intent, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. Dag and Yadirgi were jailed for six years and eight months each, and Eroglu for six years.

The court heard the three women were sympathetic to and supported the aims of the Kurdish-linked proscribed group Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK).

The Metropolitan Police Service Police (MPS) Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) launched an investigation following the attack on 30 December 2011.

All three women pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing on 27 April 2012 and were remanded in custody to appear for sentence at Woolwich Crown Court on the 30 May.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, Senior National Coordinator Counter Terrorism, said: "These women threw petrol bombs at an occupied social club. It is only by luck that none of these petrol bombs smashed during the course of this attack.

"Had any of them done so the likely consequences would have been a catastrophic fireball that would have caused serious and life threatening injuries in the confined space of the social club."

(GK)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

17 February 2004
UK sees 20% increase in multiple births over 10 years
Mothers are having 20% more multiple births than they were a decade ago, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Statistics have revealed that in 2002, the multiple birth rate was 15 per 1,000 women giving birth, compared with 12.5 in 1992.
07 August 2006
Seven protestors arrested at airport
Police have arrested seven people at Prestwick airport after boarding a plane to search for bombs being transported to Israel. According to reports, three women, aged 48, 55 and 68, and four men, aged 35, 46, 50 and 56 were arrested around 3:30am on Monday.
12 March 2004
Leicester City trio fly home after being granted bail
The three Leicester City players accused of sexually assaulting three women in La Manga last week have been released on bail. The club's captain Paul Dickov and players Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie are expected to return to the UK today after their release from a jail in Murcia late last night.
22 November 2013
Rescued Women Held As Slaves For 30 years
Three woman have been discovered after allegedly being held as slaves for 30 years. It emerged on Thursday that on October 25, a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman were rescued from a house in Lambeth, south London.
19 August 2014
New Data Shows Women Hit By 'Mid-Life Pay Crisis'
Female managers over 40 years old are earning 35% less than men, according to new data by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR. To earn the same as a male manager over a career, a woman would have to work the equivalent of over 14 years more.