'Be a man and tell the truth': Mother pleads with husband to 'admit honour killing' of daughter



Murder victim: Tulay Goren was allegedly murdered by her father

A woman demanded her husband 'be a man' and admit to the murder of their teenage daughter ten years ago in an alleged honour killing.

Tulay Goren, 15, went missing in 1999 after falling in love with an older man her parents did not approve of. Her body has never been found.

Mehmet Goren, 45, was the last person to see his daughter alive. He, along with his brothers Ali Goren, 55, and Cuma Goren, 42, is accused of the Turkish schoolgirl's murder.

Tulay's mother Hanim Goren broke down as she gave evidence to the Old Bailey and insisted she her husband tell the truth for their oldest daughter Nuray, 29, and son Tuncay, now aged 19.

She said: 'He is in front of me now and he knows everything as well as I know. He should come out honestly, bravely as a man and come and tell the truth. He should relieve me of my misery. I have had enough.

'I am trying to be strong to be able to stand on my feet for Tuncay and Nuray, but I can't do it anymore. I can't cope. Apart from that pain for me, causing pain, causing harm to me it is enough. It is ruining all these people, it is enough.'

Michael Turner QC, defending Mehmet, said: 'You have never ever suggested to the police once that Mehmet beat you up after Tulay disappeared.'

Mrs Goren replied: 'That may be so, I may have not said it, but there are so many things that I have kept about Mehmet inside me, for 30 years I have kept a lot of things inside me. I am not saying these things not only to the police but not to anybody.

'Only I know and Allah know.'

Mrs Goren yesterday admitted asking for a £5,000 from the schoolgirl's boyfriend for disgracing the family after he took her virginity, and to cover the cost of smuggling her and her sister into the country.

She said if Halil Unal, now 41, had given it to her gambling husband she believed Tulay would still be alive.

She said: 'If Halil had given that £5,000 to Mehmet, Mehmet would not have killed Tulay and I am sure of this as I am sure of my own name.'

She added: 'I was asking for it on behalf of Mehmet. After Tulay ran away only I know what I suffered at the hands of Mehmet. Mehmet was sending me and he also said to me don't tell him that I sent you, it should look as if you are asking this yourself.

'If that Halil had given the £5,000 and I had giving that to Mehmet maybe, maybe, he wouldn't have killed Tulay.'

Hanim Goren arriving at the Old Bailey yesterday to give evidence against her husband

Mrs Goren has broken a ten-year silence over Tulay's disappearance to give evidence against the three brothers at the trial. She said she was petrified of her husband, which was why she kept silent for so long and lied to the police, saying she was the last person to see Tulay alive, not her husband.

'I was scared of Mehmet,' said Mrs Goren. 'I was afraid of Mehmet and was doing whatever Mehmet told me to do. I told these sorts of lies.'

She added: 'Before Tulay disappeared and after Tulay disappeared until I went and told the police the truth I was afraid of Mehmet. But then I went and told the police the truth and I wasn't afraid of Mehmet anymore.

'He used to beat me up after Tulay disappeared as well and he used to swear at me a lot unmentionable words.

'After that I was not really afraid of him, even if he had hit me or even if he had killed me.'

The schoolgirl's father is alleged to have killed her after consulting with his brothers, Cuma and Ali.

Mrs Goren has previously told the court how when Tulay went missing Mehmet told his wife they must disown her. She said her husband bound Tulay's hands and feet so tightly together the night before she disappeared that her feet turned 'purple and black'.

She also said her husband told Tulay's young brother Tuncay to kiss the teenager goodbye one last time hours before the 15-year-old vanished.

Mehmet, 45, of Woodford Green, north east London, together with Cuma Goren, 42, of Walthamstow, east London, and Ali Goren, 56, of Walthamstow, deny murdering Tulay on January 7 1999.

They also deny conspiracy to murder her boyfriend Halil Unal between May 1998 and February 1999.

The trial continues.