A contract killer has been sentenced to 38 years behind bars for murdering a gang leader and shooting his getaway driver.

Jamie Marsh-Smith, 23, was given a life sentence for murdering Zafer Eren, 34, in Medway, Southgate on April 18, 2013.

The Old Bailey heard that Marsh-Smith, 22, was hired by Turkish gangsters in Hackney to kill leader of the Tottenham Turks, Mr Eren.

Nicknamed ‘Freddy’ after Freddy Krueger from the film Nightmare on Elm Street, Marsh-Smith then attempted to kill his accomplice, Samuel Zerei, who was also convicted of murder and will serve a minimum of 28 years in prison.

Marsh-Smith was also sentenced to 30 years on two counts of attempted murder, with the sentences running concurrently to his 38-year sentence.

The court heard that Mr Eren was shot three times in the back outside his home by Marsh-Smith.

Marsh-Smith then got into a car with Zerei, who had watched Mr Eren’s home, waiting for him to appear.

Marsh-Smith shot Zerei in Markfield Road, Tottenham Hale days later, claiming he “knew the truth” about the shooting.

Both were sentenced at the Old Bailey this morning. Judge John Bevan QC told the court it was “an appalling crime.”

Sentencing Mr Zerei, he said: “Whether you were only involved in this appalling crime at the end, you were still involved nonetheless.”

Prosecutor QC Edward Brown also told the court that the violence had begun in December 2012, four months before the murder, when Marsh-Smith attempted to kill Mr Eren’s cousin Inan Eren on his doorstep.

After the sentencing, a police spokesman said: “The conduct of Marsh-Smith and Zerei reads like something from a film, they accepted a contract to kill and had no known dispute with the victim.

“Marsh-Smith and Zerei are professional and dangerous criminals, Marsh-Smith even tried to execute his getaway driver when he failed to dispose of the getaway car.

“This investigation has been brought about by truly outstanding and painstaking work, by the Homicide and Major Crime Command and Trident Gang Command.

“Our investigation continues into Zafer Eren’s murder, we seek to find those responsible for those who ordered his killing.

“Convictions today demonstrate that the police will not go away. For those who hold information in Zafer’s murder, they should make the call to the incident room today.”

The police also told the Enfield Independent that a £30,000 reward has been issued to anyone with information into Mr Eren’s murder.