TODDLER’S KILLER IS SHOT DEAD AS HE WEDS
Alistair’s dad: I feel sorry for Akyuz’s family
A MAN who killed a Scottish boy at a Turkish cafe almost 14 years ago has been shot dead at his own wedding.
Two-year-old Alistair Grimason was hit by a stray bullet as he slept in his pram when a gunfight broke out in a cafe in the Aegean seaside town of Foca in 2003.
Car salesman Daimi Akyuz, 46, was jailed for a maximum of 36 years in 2004 for killing Alistair and another man, Ali Bektas.
He was released early from his life sentence but was killed at his wedding in Izmir on Saturday, six days after he was freed.
Alistair’s dad David said: “I really expected he was going to spend a long time in jail.
“I don’t take any joy in what has happened. I would rather he was in jail being punished for what he did.
“I was told that he was at his wedding and stepped outside for a cigarette and someone came along and shot him.
“It’s a big story over in Turkey because the man who killed Alistair has been killed in the same manner.”
David has since split up from Alistair’s Turkish-born mother Ozlem, who has moved back to Izmir.
He said: “There was an opportunity they could have bumped into each other. No one informed us that he was being let out.
“We went through months of court cases. It was a tough time for us. But it’s worse for his family at the moment, I remember he had two kids. They’ve let him out to be killed.”
A source in Turkey said prisons are overflowing since last year’s attempted coup against president Erdogan and some inmates who had served more than 10 years were freed.
Police have been quizzing five suspects in relation to Akyuz’s shooting.
David now lives in East Kilbride with his partner and son Emil, who is three.