Kebab shop hammer teen’s court appeal is dismissed

A TEENAGER who hit out with a hammer after confronting three men he thought were burgling his family’s kebab shop used “more force than was reasonable”, senior judges ruled yesterday.

Tolga Yaman, who was 18, hit one man on the head with the hammer after driving past the closed takeaway in North Road, Cardiff, in July 2010 and noticing that a security shutter had been lifted, the Court of Appeal in London heard.

Three judges said Yaman had misread the situation. The men in the shop were legitimately disconnecting a gas meter after allegations that bills had not been paid – and the man the teenager attacked was a locksmith. However, the judges said Yaman “honestly believed” that he had disturbed burglars and said the issue was whether the force he used was reasonable in those circumstances.

They concluded that it was not and ruled that his use of the hammer could not be seen as a “proportionate use of force”.

Yaman was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court in October 2011 and given a one-year jail term.

Lord Justice Hooper, Mr Justice Cooke and Mr Justice Beatson dismissed his appeal after a hearing in London.