A father accused of murdering his 15-year-old daughter in an “honour” killing collapsed in the dock yesterday as his wife broke her ten-year silence to face him at the Old Bailey.
Mehmet Goren, 49, was taken ill just 45 minutes into Hanim Goren’s testimony as his wife gave evidence against him. There were chaotic scenes as paramedics were called.
Mrs Goren waived her right to speak from behind a screen, choosing to describe in front of her husband and his brothers, Ali, 55, and Cuma, 42, the events leading up to her daughter’s disappearance in January 1999.
The prosecution says that Mr Goren murdered Tulay Goren because she had shamed the family by falling in love with Halil Unal, a man twice her age and from a different Muslim sect. The brothers are also accused of conspiring to murder Mr Unal, whom the schoolgirl met while on work experience at an East London clothing factory in the summer of 1998. Her body has never been found. The jurors heard how the Goren family, including their three daughters and one son, arrived in Britain illegally from Turkey between 1993 and 1996.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mrs Goren, 45, told the court how her daughter met Mr Unal. “She wanted to buy some clothes,” Mrs Goren said. “I spoke to the boss [of the Hackney factory] and he said, ‘OK, bring her’.” Within a few days Tulay, who had been offered work experience at the factory, told her mother that Mr Unal, a manager there, had “asked to be friends”. Mrs Goren was opposed to the friendship and warned Mr Unal off. She later described how her husband slapped Tulay “several times” when the girl denied having a boyfriend and confronted Mr Unal at the factory.
Finally, the teenager fled to Mr Unal’s flat in Hackney, staying there for three weeks. Her father later agreed to the marriage, although it was postponed when it became clear that Tulay was too young to be married. The girl attempted a reconciliation with her father, but he again hit her. She disappeared on January 7, 1999, before the marriage could take place.
Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, for the prosecution, told the court that Tulay was killed to “restore the so-called honour” of the family. Jurors have also been told that having said little to police at the time of her daughter’s disappearance, Mrs Goren has agreed to give evidence for the prosecution.
The three brothers deny murdering Tulay and conspiracy to murder Mr Unal. The trial continues.