Turkish gunman who killed Scottish toddler is killed at own wedding six days after prison release

Nick Reilly
·Contributor
Daimi Akyuz (left) gunned down Alistair Grimason in 2003, leaving parents David and Ozlem heartbroken (Picture: REX Features)
Daimi Akyuz (left) gunned down Alistair Grimason in 2003, leaving parents David and Ozlem heartbroken (Picture: REX Features)

The man who gunned down a Scottish toddler at a Turkish cafe in 2003 has died after he was shot at his own wedding.

Daimi Akyuz was killed on Saturday as he stepped out for a cigarette, only six days after being released from prison.

Akyuz, 46, had been jailed for life after he killed 2-year-old Alistair Grimason in the seaside resort of Foca almost 14 years ago.

The tragic incident occurred at a cafe in the seaside resort of Foca (Picture: REX Features)
The tragic incident occurred at a cafe in the seaside resort of Foca (Picture: REX Features)

The toddler was sleeping in his pushchair when he was hit by a bullet after a fight broke out in a cafe over a mobile phone.

Akyuz immediately went on the run, but was later arrested and found guilty of killing the toddler and and murdering Ali Bektas, a mobile salesman.

Despite having served less than half his life sentence, Akyuz was released from prison last week – only days before he was gunned down at his wedding.

Alistair Grimason was gunned down as he slept at a roadside cafe (Picture: REX Features)
Alistair Grimason was gunned down as he slept at a roadside cafe (Picture: REX Features)

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Alistair’s father David said he took ‘no joy’ in knowing that his son’s killer had been gunned down after an early release from prison.

He said: ‘I was told that he was at his wedding and stepped outside for a cigarette and someone came along and shot him.

‘I don’t want to see anyone lose their life, especially in those sort of circumstances. It is ironic – he was not scared to use guns and that is how he was killed himself, but I don’t want to see that. We campaigned for a long time about gun crime in Turkey.

Daimi Akyuz had served only 13 years in prison (Picture: REX Features)
Daimi Akyuz had served only 13 years in prison (Picture: REX Features)

‘Some people might feel I should be pleased that he has been killed but I don’t take any comfort from that at all. I almost feel sorry for him in a way, or certainly for his family. He had two children and they have lost their father. I don’t take any joy in what has happened.’

It’s claimed that Ozlem received early release after the attempted coup last year caused prisons to ‘overflow’, with older inmates released before the end of their sentence.

David and Ozlem shortly after their son’s death in 2003 (Picture: REX Features)
David and Ozlem shortly after their son’s death in 2003 (Picture: REX Features)

Mr Grimason added: ‘I don’t understand why they would let out anyone who was as dangerous as he was. The first thing I felt was a bit of anger that he was out of prison. Thirteen-and-a-half years is about a third of the sentence he was supposed to have served.

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‘We always had that little peace of mind that he was being punished for his crime. That was his punishment – to be in jail.’