Every now and then we like to look back on things we have unearthed. This is one. The Big Retort

  

 

The Man in The Iron Mask: The Truth Revealed

In Edwardian England a man accepted an incredible wager: the prize: £21,000. It was set down by two notable men, J P Morgan (the wealthy banker) and the Earl of Lonsdale. But following several sightings around various cities and towns, "Iron Man," who pushed a pram 'throughout the world', face covered in an iron helmet, surviving only on the sale of pamphlets and postcards, disappeared like a phantom. Only to return 6 years later having 'nearly' completed his remarkable odyssey around the globe. 

MEZE MANGAL SCANDAL - Woolwich Crown Court – Mention Hearing Summary (21 October 2025)

THE BIG RETORT SPECIAL REPORT
A Borough without a conscience

Since 2020, two British citizens — Ahmet and Şahin Gök of Meze Mangal — have lived under the shadow of a law never meant for them. Their “crime”? Installing a kitchen extractor in response to a neighbour’s complaint. Their punishment? Criminal prosecution, confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), and the seizure of their passports by Lewisham Council lawyers.

This is not regulation. It is retribution. It is “making an example.”

Lewisham Council, acting through its out-housed solicitors Browne Jacobson and its barrister Philip Vollans of No. 5 Chambers, has turned a planning dispute into a criminal trial. The council did so while telling magistrates that POCA escalation was “mandatory” — a statement that was, and remains, false. The matter could have been dealt with at magistrates’ court, AND an unlimited fine charged. But Lewisham would not have received over 37% of the take. That’s POCA.

The brothers have been branded offenders so the council can chase a £2.5 million “confiscation” payout — money that, if secured, goes not to victims, but into the council’s own accounts. Offers of paying smaller amounts of such a large bounty fall on deaf ears.

Yesterday at Woolwich Crown Court, a small measure of justice surfaced. But concerns for The Big Retort remain. Here’s why. 

Court Report: The Gök Brothers – Hearing of 22 October 2025

Judge: Her Honour Judge Charlotte Walsh (appointed a Circuit Judge by King Charles in 2003)
Prosecution: Mr Philip Vollans (No. 5 Chambers), instructed by Browne Jacobson LLP
Defence: Mr Quentin Hunt

The hearing commenced at 3:22 p.m. The prosecutor, Mr Vollans, appeared via video link — as per usual — fully robed. He confirmed he continued to act on instructions from Lewisham Council, via the out-housed legal firm Browne Jacobson (a name to remember).

The Turkish interpreter was sworn. Then, remarkably, the defendants, Ahmet and Şahin Gök, were escorted into a glass holding pen, flanked by a security officer and the interpreter. They seemed confused. The door was then locked. From the press gallery, they appeared small and diminished — their heads barely visible above the glass partitions as they sat.

The judge asked them to stand and confirm their identities, which they did through the interpreter. She remarked that she was “mindful not to waste people’s money if I don’t need to,” noting that the case had already dragged on far too long and costs had escalated.

Defence counsel Mr Hunt confirmed that there was no deal on the table (really?) and that the case would therefore proceed to a full trial in March 2026. He explained that earlier delays had been due to the brothers caring for their terminally ill father, now deceased, and that their cooperation since had been exemplary. The judge agreed, noting “a real improvement.”

Mr Hunt drew the court’s attention to the ongoing hardship caused by the passport seizure — imposed by Lewisham Council — which had prevented the brothers from attending family funerals in Turkey. He pressed for their permanent return, stressing that they were not flight risks, were in receipt of publicly verified legal funds (via GoFundMe contributors ring-fenced by The Big Retort), and had demonstrated integrity throughout.

The judge appeared moved. “They can be trusted to attend court,” she said, ordering that the passports be returned unconditionally and the defendants released on unconditional bail.

Mr Vollans, for the Council, raised no objection. Though it must be said that the passports were seized not by the judge’s request.

Addressing the brothers directly, Judge Welsh said:
“Messrs Gök — you’ve been very cooperative. I’m happy to release you on unconditional bail. You are free to come and go to Turkey as and when you wish.”

The brothers were released shortly thereafter from the glass holding pen — like battery hens.

The case is listed for full hearing on 19 March 2026.

Of course, we applaud the return of their passports. But the return, after so much heartache for the pair and the community they have served for decades, should not be treated as a triumph. It is a restoration of what should never have taken place. Two restaurateurs, treated as criminals for installing a fan, have endured humiliation, fear, and ruin at the hands of their own local authority.

£2.5 million pounds is the plunder for the POCA hunters.

The injustice continues.

The Big Retort

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Editor’s Note:
As revealed in our earlier investigations, Lewisham Council’s own counsel told magistrates that escalation under the Proceeds of Crime Act was “mandatory” under Section 70 — a claim now proven false. The Act gives discretion, not obligation. That legal fiction set in motion the criminalisation of two local business owners and the destruction of their hard-working lives.

The Big Retort will continue to pursue this story until accountability reaches those at the top — including Mayor Brenda Dacres and the officers who signed off this abuse of process. We call them The Poca Hunters. And they are soon to be outed.

The Big Retort

 

Following Lewisham Council’s response to our Freedom of Information request (Ref 33066881), The Big Retort has discovered a clear contradiction in the Council’s own data regarding its refusal to allow an HMO due to the "one household only" policy in its leases.

The Council stated that since launching its Additional HMO Licensing Scheme on 5 April 2022, no licences have been refused on the basis of the “one household only” clause. Yet The Big Retort holds a copy of a refusal letter dated 17 September 2025, which explicitly cites that same clause.

Lewisham also admitted that it has no policy, no legal guidance, and no Equality Impact Assessment for applying the clause in licensing decisions. Despite this, it has warned or advised 119 leaseholders that their leases prevent licensing, and issued two Temporary Exemption Notices on that basis.

What happened to the other 117 households? The Council has provided no information on outcomes or enforcement, leaving open the possibility that leaseholders were informally discouraged from completing applications — a practice without written policy or accountability.

The Big Retort has filed a follow-up FOI asking Lewisham to explain how its refusal was recorded, what became of the 119 warned leaseholders, and whether any enforcement, fines, or Rent Repayment Orders followed.

Link to follow once the request is published on WhatDoTheyKnow.

The Liverpool Chronicles: a short trip in the capital of intoxication

 

Euston, scene one. Picture, if you will, Bedlam on steroids. Travellers huddle on the concourse like pelicans, necks craned at the departure board. The platform flashes up; the herd bolts. “Reserved” on the London–Liverpool line is not a promise, merely a polite suggestion — hence the sprint.

Lime Street arrives early. We stroll fifteen minutes to our home-from-home, the excellent Hope Street Hotel. 

It’s a perfect spot: near the action, not in it.The corner studios on or above the third floor are the most sort-after parts of the hotel. It’s not just the views!

Colin Corin

Warm greeting from Colin, practical tips on where to eat, drink and (if you must) dance. Americans abound, museums and Beatles tours are a wander away, and the Philharmonic Hall glows around the corner. 

The corner suite came with a gorgeous blonde

A brief origin story. The building (The London Carriage Works, 1869) was meant to be apartments until the numbers said “hotel.” Early guests included Condoleezza Rice; later came a gutsy engineering stitch-up of old and new — cleverly done so it still feels like a boutique, not a bolt-on. Corner suites offer views to the Liver Birds; below the old haunts of the ’70s and ’80s have vanished. Liverpool hasn’t. The city hums — jokes, music, football, parties. If that’s not your thing, the hotel bar pours a quiet pint very nicely. 

First stop: Barnacle, just round the corner. Ideal for beers, martinis and fast Scouse patter. The setting — a modern brasserie inside the Grade II-listed former School for the Blind — is handsome and calm; the staff have stories for days. Have two drinks, hear four tales. That’s the exchange rate. (24 Hardman Street, L1 9AS.)

Dinner at NORD (100 Old Hall Street). A bit of a stretch on foot, so take a taxi — or stop for culture on the way. 

Nord

Room: gorgeous. Service: extremely warm. Wine: lovely. Food: a mixed bag. Our “T-bone” turned out to be… enthusiastic chops. One waiter, trying to preserve the illusion, insisted “It’s T-bone!” Another quietly confirmed the truth. 

T-bone or delicious chops, you decide.

Management wobbled: Richard denied being the manager — a manager in denial.

What the fig! Couldn't get my mouth around this dish.

Verdict: ambience 10; food: 4 for the strange cheese biscuits on a napkin, and same for the tartare (8–10 for the lamb chops at £38, cod £28, wine BTL sense cap? £41. Staff mostly terrific.  £220.55 for two is on the steep side for me...  But then, we’d try again — preferably on the night the manager isn’t really there.

Nord

Back on Hope Street, the city’s pulse carries on long after you don’t. Liverpool today is Bacchus with a diary: you can party ’til you drop, stand up, and ask what’s next. We opted for the nightcap and the walk home, city lights folding into the Mersey.

In the morning try the breakfast in the Hope Street Hotel's 1931 Restaurant.  Great value for money and good to get you in the right mood for the day or journey ahead. Great staff too.

We give Hope Street Hotel a 9-10, in the hope you won’t rush there - and then there’s no room at the inn for us.

Next in The Big Retort Liverpool Chronicles: coming soon.

LEWISHAM POCA SCANDAL: PARLIAMENT STRIKES BACK

Lewisham Council’s use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) against the Gök brothers of Meze Mangal has sparked a public backlash, a £20,000 fundraiser, and now questions in Parliament. The Big Retort... 

Brenda Dacres

What began as a fight for fairness in the Gök/POCA case has become a bit of a movement.  In the prosecution of Meze Mangal, brought under the authority of Lewisham mayor Brenda Dacres, two hardworking Turkish restaurant owners have been criminalised, had their passports seized, and now face the loss of decades of work. But people power — through a GoFundMe page — is saying, with one voice: enough. 

Since we first exposed Lewisham Council’s potential misuse of the Proceeds of Crime Act against Ahmet and Şahin Gök, the response has been an overwhelming 500 plus donations.  The fund is closing in on £20,000, needed to meet the eye-watering legal costs driven up not by the brothers but by a public body using a draconian law to refill its own coffers.

Every donation — from a fiver to four figures — carries the same message: not on our watch.

Across social media, the story has reached hundreds of thousands.

Chefs, small-business owners and locals are united in disbelief:

“You don’t treat good people like this.” “This isn’t a crime.” "What the fu-"

The council's response: silence.

What many don’t realise that once a council secures a conviction — even for a technical planning breach — it can then pursue confiscation under POCA. 

Not on profit: but turnover.

THE LADY'S NOT FOR TURNING

The Mayor of Lewisham has dined at Meze Mangal with her entourage. Yet, today, the council she leads presses on with POCA. A route that risks destroying the very family business that helped put Lewisham’s food scene on the map. 

After a chance encounter following local canvassing in Lewisham, the Mayor told me she could not discuss the “ongoing prosecution” — a mantra I’d already heard.

I suggested we meet to talk not about the case, but about POCA policy in general. 

“After the Labour conference,” came the reply.

After that conference came and went, I followed up by email. 

“The Mayor’s position remains unchanged. It would be inappropriate to intervene in a case currently before the Courts. The Mayor will not be meeting with you on this matter.” (Charlie Hughes, Head of the Mayor’s Office.)

When I clarified that the proposed meeting concerned policy, not the case. (Hughes, again):

“A meeting hasn’t been offered to you on any subject.”

Promises made in pubs, denied in emails — the silence grows.

"POCA: Right law. Wrong target.  Can local authorities weaponise criminal law to pursue planning disputes?"

Simon Hoare MP

WESTMINSTER IS WATCHING💪

As a direct result of the media campaign following The Big Retort and the national attention surrounding this case, the matter reached the Despatch Boxes in the House of Commons.

Simon Hoare MP, Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (and former Local Government Minister), rose in defence of Commons Sense — quite literally:

“Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Proceeds of Crime Act was never intended to be used by local authorities as an addendum to planning enforcement. The Secretary of State may very well have seen recent media reporting around this issue. Would he undertake to look into it, and to issue guidance to local authorities that, while they have many tools at their disposal, the Proceeds of Crime Act is not one of them?”

The Secretary of State replied:

“He raises an important point. I’m happy to arrange a meeting with him and the appropriate Minister so that he can share his concerns and we can come to a resolution.”

From the back kitchen of Meze Mangal in Lewisham to the floor of Parliament, raised by The Big Retort — the question has gone national.

It’s a question the current Mayor of Lewisham, Brenda Dacres, continues to meet with silence. Meanwhile... we have been summoned to Parliament and will report on this soon.

— Coming soon in The Big Retort: Mission Creep: Impossible — The POCA Hunters.

LEWISHAM COUNCIL AND MEZE MANGAL: NOTICE WITHDRAWN DISCOVERY

 

From extractor fan to existential fight.

How Lewisham Council’s prosecution of Meze Mangal spiralled from a planning notice into a multimillion-pound Proceeds of Crime case — and how our discovery of one forgotten court document may change everything for the Gök brothers.
The Big Retort…

In chess, a pawn captures by moving diagonally one square into the space the enemy piece once held. In this analogy, Lewisham Council is the queen: powerful, overreaching, convinced of its own invincibility. We — the citizens, the pawns — advance carefully, one square at a time, playing by the rules. But when the board is blocked and process bends, there remains one move the powerful in their Catford tower never anticipate: The quiet capture. 

We recently reported the Meze Mangal case — following two Turkish brothers, Ahmet and Sahin, hard-working British citizens, whose passports have been seized. Persecuted by officialdom and juggling day-to-day restaurant life under a white-hot media glare, the phone at Meze now rings off the hook with bookings… from journalists.

While cameras flash on the faces of Ahmet and Şahin Gök, we in Room 300 have kept digging — quietly, methodically. What we found made us exhale — long and hard.

How did we get here?

It begins, absurdly enough, with a fan — an extractor fan.  Installed at Meze Mangal to disperse cooking odours after a single complaint, it should have been a straightforward planning issue.

Instead, it became the opening move in an escalation that turned two restaurateurs into criminal defendants: passports seized, livelihoods frozen, reputations ground through the bureaucratic machinery of what some now call the Soviet state of Lewisham.

At every turn, the council appeared less interested in resolving a minor planning breach than in testing the outer limits of its enforcement powers.

What began as a question of ventilation became, over time, a test case in how far a local authority might stretch the Proceeds of Crime Act — POCA — a law written to catch gangsters, not grill chefs.

Then, long buried among the files of successive lawyers, we uncovered a document that had lain undiscovered — until now. A Notification of Withdrawn Offences, issued by Bromley Magistrates’ Court on 10 January 2020.

It helps explain why the Gök brothers reasonably believed the matter had been concluded — until Lewisham later revived enforcement and escalated it into confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

What follows is the paper trail that turned a withdrawn case into a criminal prosecution — a bureaucratic sleight of hand spanning years, a sequence of notices and letters, and one devastating misunderstanding. This is disturbing evidence of neglect and misinformation by council officers.

Extract from Bromley Magistrates’ Court “Notification of Withdrawn Offences”, dated 10 January 2020 — confirming four enforcement charges were withdrawn and that “no further action will be taken.”

That single court notice — never clarified, then forgotten, became the foundation of a misunderstanding with life-changing consequences for Ahmet and Şahin Gök. Pursued by a council machine apparently determined to test POCA on a planning dispute, they found themselves caught in a net meant for sharks — when they were, at most, small fry.

Whether this crucial document will find its way into open court remains to be seen.

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Legal note

The confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act remain before Woolwich Crown Court.
Nothing here comments on the merits of that ongoing case or seeks to influence its outcome.
The Notification of Withdrawn Offences is a historic court document that formally states four earlier charges were withdrawn and that “no further action will be taken.”
This evidence — photographed directly by The Big Retort — goes solely to questions of procedure, transparency, and accountability, not guilt or innocence in any pending matter.

THE BIG RETORT

Lewisham Council POCA Prosecution: Job Ad Reveals Mandate To 'Maximise Income'

From Borough of Sanctuary to dystopian world — Lewisham Council places landmark restaurant on the POCA grill. THE BIG RETORT…

Some days, when I pass the grimy windows at Laurence House in Catford, I swear I can hear the sound of someone desperately singing from the floors above: “You’ve gotta pick a POCA or two, boys…”

Lewisham once styled itself a Borough of Sanctuary. But today it feels more like a borough for bounty hunters — where local businesses and good neighbours aren’t nurtured, but criminalised for profit. The game is called POCA.

In plain English, the Proceeds of Crime Act works like this: after a criminal conviction is secured, a prosecuting authority can ask the court to treat unexplained money or assets as “criminal benefit” unless proved otherwise. 

The trawl through the person’s past can prove costly, both mentally and financially, as it stretches back six years from when proceedings commence. 

The court then sets a “benefit” figure and an amount it says the person must pay; if you can’t pay (or won’t), a default prison term awaits. 

A powerful tool against drug barons — but misused, it seems, against a much-loved local family restaurant for having a new flue at the rear of the premises without the benefit of planning permission.

This time Ahmet and Şahin Gök, the brothers behind Meze Mangal — the award-winning, much-loved Turkish restaurant at 245 Lewisham Way — are in the council’s crosshairs. 

Their so-called “crime”? Installing an extractor fan to deal with cooking odours after a single alleged complaint. What should have been a routine planning matter has escalated into persecution and harassment of two long-standing British citizens born in Turkey.

Somehow, Lewisham secured a conviction against the Gök brothers — in their absence.
Now the council has escalated the case to Crown Court and, at the last count, is demanding more than £2.5 million under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

The question you may ask is this: wasn’t POCA introduced to seize the ill-gotten gains of drug barons, money launderers and corrupt officials — not to crush a family restaurant over a flue?

Yet Lewisham Council, working with Brent Council, is deploying this draconian tool against two highly respected restaurateurs. Even if the figure is reduced, the accumulated legal costs and risk of confiscation could bankrupt the Gök family and erase a community institution. 

The message to the public is clear: stay silent while power is over-applied.

But silence isn’t an option. This is just one example of a wider enforcement culture — telegraphed even in Lewisham Council’s own job adverts — that prioritises prosecution over proportion. It's very telling.

"...to ensure prosecutions are successful and maximise income for the borough in respect of proceeds of crime."

As if that weren’t enough, at the request of Lewisham’s prosecutor, the Gok brothers’ passports have been seized - treating them as 'immigrant' flight risks. It's truly unbelievable! It is also racist. 

The Gok brothers have lived here for decades, have family and property here, and take pride in both nations that they love. They are NOT flight risks. 

However, if they can’t pay, they face the terrifying threat of up to 14 years in prison. All for an extractor fan.

The legal bills and mental pressure are mounting! 

But then, in the red corner, it’s only public money - your hard-earned money - being spent with wild abandon on expensive outsourced lawyers favoured by the council’s officers. 

And, in the immigrant corner of this Borough of Sanctuary, a Turkish family is penalised and placed in eternal penury, watching the profits of a lifetime swirl down the very streets left uncleaned by misspent tax revenues — misspent on what? Costly lawyers in the red corner.

In one shocking move, a Brent Council financial investigator (yes, Brent) — working on Lewisham’s behalf — even inadvertently (we hope) caused the banks to return Meze Mangal’s takings for an entire week to diners. 

Only one customer reportedly repaid their bill.

But this case isn’t about an  extractor. It’s about profit and precedent over decent Turkish people. Şahin Gök and his brother Ahmet and family. 

How many locals have experienced the “Şahin hug” and welcome?

Speaking with Şahin Gök this week, one thing became clear. The brothers are not asking for sympathy or financial rescue — that is our initiative, not theirs. What they want is simple and dignified: to stand up to a bullying council, and to have their passports returned - immediately.

“We’re not begging,” Şahin said. “We just want to be treated fairly — and to hold our heads high again. We also needed to attend the funerals of our family in Turkey, but that's too late now. That  means more to us than anything.”

Why this matters to you

If Lewisham Council succeeds, it sets a dangerous Orwellian example for others. They come for Meze Mangal today; tomorrow they come for you. 

These are the cards these faceless and heartless and unchecked officials hold:

• Planning disputes treated as criminal enterprises.

• POCA turned into a revenue stream against immigrants, used by councils to balance their nearly bankrupt books. Without your elected members' oversight.

• Ordinary people — immigrants, shopkeepers, carers, foster parents, restaurateurs — crushed with costs, stigma, and even 14-years prison. How outrageous!

Questions for the forthcoming ballot box

Would this happen in a council with real political balance? We think not.

Would it happen in a borough led by elected councillors, not faceless bureaucrats? We think not.

Would the Gök prosecution (and persecution) have happened with strong leadership that values fairness and proportionality? Well, evidently we think not.

A campaign to SAVE MEZE MANGAL

The Big Retort says: enough.

Councils cannot operate in darkness and so we must shine a light on this. NOW. 

Also, they cannot target proud British-Turks  in the hope that they will pay a POCA bounty because they do not seek the glare of publicity. It is this we seek to highlight.

How you can help — right now

• Make a donation — the Gok brothers' costs are already in the tens of thousands. This is not their request, but The Big Retort's. 

• Show your support — write “I support Meze Mangal” in the comments section below or directly to the Mayor and CEO.

• Pop into Meze Mangal and give them a hug in support, or dine there.

• Share this post with friends, neighbours, and anyone who has enjoyed Meze Mangal.

• Tell your story — have you been criminalised, threatened with POCA, or forced toward bankruptcy by Lewisham enforcement? Add your voice below.

Together we saved KJ. Together we can save Meze Mangal.  [Reported here in The Daily Mail.]

This isn’t just about one community restaurant. It’s about justice, fairness, and community in the face of a council that too often forgets its people — and why its members were elected in the first place.

Ask not what your council can do to you — but what you will do to this council at the next election.

Keep comments polite — this is not the judge’s doing but the faceless officials who drove this and the elected members who are too scared to control them. We will be doing more on this later.

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Court details (open to the public)

The first hearing on 24 October is what’s called a mention hearing. It isn’t the full trial. Instead, it’s when the judge checks in on the case, hears from both sides, and sets out the next steps in the court timetable.

If needed — full confiscation hearing: Woolwich Crown Court, 19–20 March 2026.