TURKISH gangster caught touring the streets of Tottenham armed with a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest

TURKISH gangster caught touring the streets of Tottenham armed with a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Unemployed Emre Kamalak, 24, was in a taxi with Yusuf Arslan on December 8 last year when armed officers swooped and arrested them.

Arslan, of Oxford Close, Edmonton, was already wanted by the police for opening fire on two men in Tottenham a week before the arrest.

As officers descended on the taxi, in Ferry Lane, Kamalak was seen throwing a bag out of the window which contained a Brocock Snubnose revolver that had been converted to fire live rounds.

The pair, who wear both wearing bulletproof vests, had been tailed from a massage parlour in Walthamstow, having hired the taxi under a false name and ordered the driver to take them to a series of destinations across Tottenham and Walthamstow.

Officers believe by stopping the two men, they may have prevented a serious crime taking place.

Kamalak, of Chesthunte Road, Tottenham, was jailed at Kingston Crown Court for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.

He admitted the charges, unlike Arslan, who was jailed indefinitely last month for the public protection, having consistently denied his guilt.

Detective Inspector Colin Douglas, who led the investigation, said the men presented a “life-threatening risk” to their intended victims and to innocent members of the public.

He said: “Kamalak was clearly engaged in serious criminality that day. He and his co-defendant may well have succeeded in their venture had they not been apprehended by police.”