Bertan Mustafa Hajiahmetoglu

On 20 Jul 2021, at 08:53, Debbie Tyler wrote:

12 years of our lives wasted travelling to hearings to and from Turkey. Three month settlement promised by our 2 Legal Expenses Policies DAS

Email to Irwin Mitchell Solicitors

From: Ahmet Hajiahmetoglu <siteler120710@icloud.com> 
Sent: 04 November 2021 11:45
To: Simon O’Loughlin <Simon.Oloughlin@IrwinMitchell.com>
Subject: [External] Re: Thanks for reply. Advise we had from IM ,DAS was ;TMIB was the way to quick settelement – promised settelemnt 3 months -instead of through the courts, which we as parents -Bertan is our only child-insisted on,but had to accept the advice…

Dear Mr.Simon O’Loughlin,

Thanks for the time ,kind attention and reply.

We accepted the advice of IM as fund admin. and DAS who provided cover under our 2 policies ;Barclays Additions Travel Insurance ; together with The Halifax Home Insurance to cover our legal expenses. 2 insurance policies had this cover.

We are bewildered that our appeal in 2016 has still not been responded to by the High Court -to the “lenient guilty verdict” postponing the 18 prison sentence for 5 years “as it would affect the future of the assailant”

However in 2016 ,after the courts ” guilty sentence” we insisted on going through the courts. IM and DAS objected saying “going through the courts will be a lenghtly process” so they both advised and assured us it would be quick and take “3 months to settle the claim” through The Turkish Motor Insurance Bureau (TMIB)

We accepted this course of action, expecting quick settlement. IM appointed Kaya & Partners in İstanbul (720 Km. from where we are in Marmaris)as their agents, in 2016 paid Agents fees €42k “in advance” for their services- we would have waited for a “result” before settling Agent’s bill – then they informed us.

-trial continued for 6 years ,we attended all court hearings except 2.

Our lives revolved around this trauma ,so tirelessly we air travelled to Dalaman time and again ,bought a flat ,set up home in Marmaris where the accident occured ,engaged 3 lawyers, I translated/emailed court hearings to IM ; such injustice ,no reply to The Appeal ,no prison sentence for the assailant ,no compensation-12 +years on, to this day.

19 year old Bertan had won Brunel Uni.to study IT with distinction in 8 subjects ,we promised to make a donation to Brunel Uni.in Bertan’s name !

(Now past 12th anniversary ) 11 years 4 months since the tragedy, 5+ months since the promised “3 months claim settelement” by IM ,DAS and Kaya & Partners.

Then we were informed “low compensation offers” were made as if our son is not a British subject ! Issues irrelevant in this case ,as Bertan was born in UK ,our only child. Our Bloodline has been cut Off .Ruined our health ; we live in turmoil on top of the pandemic concerns. Our son was Not a Turkish citizen; born ,studied in UK ,so IT earnings in UK were relevant ; assailant lives in Holland ,this sholud be considered too.

We were informed by IM solicitors that UK adviser was hired to advise on this issue was appointed to resolve this ! Somehow settlement has been postponed by negative influences as it has political implications.

The same earnings issue stagnated the process ,this file continues to be in TMIB storage ,while the £Stg.exchange rate for TL was around 4TL , at the time of this email @ 13.20; any compensation amount will be rendered worthless with the TL. rate 22 to the £Stg.

Please update the progress of Kaya & Partners, who were to settle the claim with TMIB, Not through the courts !. 3 years ago we “protested” lack of any action ,no progress reports given.

We gave “power of attorney” to Kaya & Partners, but they do not email any progres !

We thank you and IM Solicitor’s Senior partner Mr. Philip Banks for the kind attention and response.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs.Leman Hajiahmetoglu

Mr.Ahmet Hajiahmetoglu

Sent from my iPad

On 3 Nov 2021, at 18:21, Simon O’Loughlin wrote:

Reply from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors:

Dear Mr Hajiahmetoglu

I have been passed a message that you sent via Twitter.

Unfortunately Debbie has now left Irwin Mitchell and I have been asked to respond to your message.

I can see that matter has been ongoing for a very long time and I do appreciate just how upsetting and frustrating this must be for you.

I have reviewed Debbie’s emails and note from the email below that she did advise you in July that, unfortunately, we cannot demand or request anything from the Court in Turkey at this stage which will mean there will be nothing we can do to speed up the process. Again I do appreciate this is not what you want to hear after all this time but I will contact the Turkish lawyer and ask them for an update. I will also advise them that Debbie is no longer with Irwin Mitchell as I do not want him sending emails to her after her email account is deactivated.

I will be in touch again as soon as I hear back from the Turkish lawyer. I also note that the Team Partner Philip Banks has been involved in your case too and I will let him know I have contacted you.

Kind regards

Simon

Simon O’Loughlin
Associate Solicitor
Irwin Mitchell LLP

DDI: 0121 2035594
Mobile: 07841495414
Phone: 0370 1500 100 Extension: 5594
www.IrwinMitchell.com

Dear Mr Hajiahmetoglu

I hope that you and Leman are coping during this awful pandemic. I have been in contact with our agent last week and it would seem that the Supreme Court Judgments in Turkey are looking into the criminal case again. It would seem that judges can take action without the prompting of the parties; sua sponte. This means that we cannot demand/request anything at this stage of the criminal file. The judges investigate, analyse and evaluate the file extensively including the appeal petitions of both parties and make a judgment. I have asked our agent to see what he can find out as to why and what is happening in this regard.

The TMIB seem to be burying their heads in the sand and as such we need to consider filing a further lawsuit. However, even after the civil lawsuit is filed, the civil court judge will wait for the criminal case to be decided. In return, the civil compensation judgment will be finalised according to the degree of fault stipulated by the experts and judge of the criminal case.

As you can see, its all very confusing as to what is curently happening and I am trying to get more information to explain the position from our agent. As soon as I have more details, I will revert to you.

Kind regards,

Debbie

Debbie Tyler
Senior Paralegal
For and on behalf of Irwin Mitchell LLP
The Colmore Building
9th Floor,20 Colmore Circus Birmingham B4 6AH

DDI: 0121 2035555

Mobile: 07435763356
Phone: 0370 1500 100 Extension: 5555
Fax: 0121 643 6021

From: Simon O’Loughlin <Simon.Oloughlin@irwinmitchell.com>
Date: 6 May 2022 at 14:49:44 BST
To: Ahmet Hajiahmetoglu <siteler120710@icloud.com>
Subject: Your Call

Dear Mr Hajiahmetoglu

I have been passed a message that you have tried to call me in the office.  Apologies for not being able to pick up your call. 

Sadly, as I advised previously, we cannot demand or request anything from the Court in Turkey at this stage which will mean there will be nothing we can do to speed up the process. Again I do appreciate this is not what you want to hear after all this time and I do understand how upsetting and frustrating this will be.

However I will contact the Turkish lawyer and ask them for an update although I have previously asked that he update me as soon as he has an update so I feel sure he will not be able to tell me anything yet.  

I will be in touch again as soon as I hear back from the Turkish lawyer.

Kind regards

Simon O’Loughlin
Associate Solicitor

From: Ahmet Hajiahmetoglu <siteler120710@icloud.com> 
Sent: 04 November 2021 11:45
To: Simon O’Loughlin <Simon.Oloughlin@IrwinMitchell.com>
Subject: [External] Re: Thanks for reply. Advise we had from IM ,DAS was ;TMIB was the way to quick settelement – promised settelemnt 3 months -instead of through the courts, which we as parents -Bertan is our only child-insisted on,but had to accept the advice…
 
Dear Mr.Simon O’Loughlin,
 
Thanks for the time ,kind attention and reply.
We accepted the advice of IM as fund admin. and DAS who provided cover under our 2 policies ;Barclays Additions Travel Insurance ; together with The Halifax Home Insurance to cover our legal expenses. 2 insurance policies had this cover.
We are bewildered that our appeal in 2016 has still not been responded to by the High Court -to the “lenient guilty verdict” postponing the 18 prison sentence for 5 years “as it would affect the future of the assailant”
However in 2016 ,after the courts ” guilty sentence” we insisted on going through the courts. IM and DAS objected saying “going through the courts will be a lenghtly process” so they both advised and assured us it would be quick and take “3 months to settle the claim” through The Turkish Motor Insurance Bureau (TMIB)
We accepted this course of action, expecting quick settlement. IM appointed Kaya & Partners in İstanbul (720 Km. from where we are in Marmaris)as their agents, paid them €42k in advance for their services- we would have waited for a “result” before settling their bill – then informed us. 
-trial continued for 6 years ,we attended all court hearings.
Our lives revolved around this trauma ,so tirelessly we air travelled to Dalaman time and again ,set up home in Marmaris where the accident occured ,engaged 3 lawyers, I translated/emailed court hearings to IM ; such injustice ,no sentence ,no compensation- to this day.
19 year old Bertan had won Brunel Uni.to study IT with distinction in 8 subjects ,we promised to make a donation to Brunel Uni.in Bertan’s name !
11 years 4 months since the tragedy, 5+ months since the promised “3 months claim settelement” by IM ,DAS and Kaya & Partners.
Then we were informed “low compensation offers” were made irrelevant in this case ,as Bertan was our only child. Our Bloodline has been cut Off .Ruined our health ; we live in turmoil on top of the pandemic concerns. Our son was Not a Turkish citizen; born ,studied in UK ,so IT earnings in UK were relevant ; assailant lives in Holland ,where “Cafe” drugs culture is the norm ,this should be considered with the fact that Assailant was a Beach Bar Manager too.
We were informed by IM solicitors that UK adviser on this ” earnings issue” was appointed to resolve this ! In reality ,we feel ,we’ll have to wait until the funds of the 2 Legal Expenses Policies are exhausted !
The same earnings issue stagnated the process ,file continues to be in storage ,while the £Stg.exchange rate for TL was around 4TL , now @ 13.20; any compensation amount will be rendered worthless with the TL.
Please update the progress of Kaya & Partners, who were to settle the claim with TMIB, Not through the courts !. 3 years ago we “protested” lack of any action.
We gave “power of attorney” to Kaya & Partners, but they do not email any progres !
We thank you and IM senior partner Philip Banks for the kind attention and response.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs.Leman Hajiahmetoglu
Mr.Ahmet Hajiahmetoglu
 
 
Sent from my iPad




On 3 Nov 2021, at 18:21, Simon O’Loughlin wrote:

Dear Mr Hajiahmetoglu
I have been passed a message that you sent via Twitter.
Unfortunately Debbie has now left Irwin Mitchell and I have been asked to respond to your message.
I can see that matter has been ongoing for a very long time and I do appreciate just how upsetting and frustrating this must be for you.
I have reviewed Debbie’s emails and note from the email below that she did advise you in July that, unfortunately, we cannot demand or request anything from the Court in Turkey at this stage which will mean there will be nothing we can do to speed up the process. Again I do appreciate this is not what you want to hear after all this time but I will contact the Turkish lawyer and ask them for an update. I will also advise them that Debbie is no longer with Irwin Mitchell as I do not want him sending emails to her after her email account is deactivated.
I will be in touch again as soon as I hear back from the Turkish lawyer. I also note that the Team Partner Philip Banks has been involved in your case too and I will let him know I have contacted you.
Kind regards
Simon
Simon O’Loughlin
Associate Solicitor
Irwin Mitchell LLP

DDI: 0121 2035594
Mobile: 07841495414
Phone: 0370 1500 100 Extension: 5594
www.IrwinMitchell.com