It was once a centre of the linen trade with a railway featuring the world’s first permanent steam train for passengers – but Darlington is now one of the barber capitals of the UK.
The industrial market town in County Durham currently has 125 barber shops and beauty salons of all types, an increase of 25 in the last five years, according to data prepared for the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
With a population of 110,562, it means there is one shop or salon for every 884 people in the town with many of them being Turkish barbers, according to research by MailOnline.
The figure means Darlington has more premises per head of population than any other borough or district in England and Wales, outside London, and is second only to Brentwood, Essex.
Across England and Wales, with its population of 60,854,727, there are now 44,995 barber shops and salons – one for every 1,352 people on average.
The total number of premises for the entire UK now stands at 50,535, an increase of 12.3% on the 44,990 in 2019.
The increases are far higher in some areas such as Luton, Bedfordshire, which currently has 145 premises, a rise of 61.1 percent on the 90 in the town 2019 – making it the biggest jump in the UK.
Meanwhile MailOnline found there were 105 council areas, just under 30% of the 362 surveyed in the UK, which have recorded the number of premises staying the same or even going down
There is no reason to suspect that the vast majority of barber shops springing up around the UK are not legitimate businesses.
But police have expressed fears that some premises, often in the same street as other outlets and seemingly bereft of customers, may be money-laundering operations for crime gangs.
A MailOnline survey found a range of views about the issue among shoppers and business owners in high streets across the country.
Many expressed astonishment about multiple Turkish-style barbers in close proximity to each other, and seeming to have hardly any customers while happily charging cut-prices.
The last time that Darlington found itself top of a league-style table was in the 1930s when it had more cinema seats than any other town in the UK, according to Darlington Borough Council.
But its soaring number of salons and barber shops now mean it has just over a third more than the average for towns and districts in England and Wales, per head of population. It is in stark contrast to West Devon which is has the lowest proportion of barbers on the mainland in England and Wales, with 20 premises serving a population of 58,754 – a rate of one for every 2,938 people.
The growing number of Turkish shops in Darlington, offering trademark hot towel shaves, skin fades and waxing, has left many locals scratching their neatly trimmed heads.
When MailOnline visited on Friday, the pre-Christmas rush for a festive trim was well underway and the barbering business was booming.
The suspicion that some businesses are linked to crime has angered established Turkish-style barbers who are thriving in Darlington. MailOnline found five barbers were working at full speed with around a dozen customers waiting to be next in the chair at the Istanbul Barbers on the edge of the town centre.
Turkish barber boss, Ako Omar, 35, stood proudly outside his Istanbul Barbers – of which he says the ownership is actually Kurdish Iraqi
Darlington, County Durham, which has the highest concentration of newly opened barber shops per capita in the country
The growing number of Turkish shops in Darlington, offering trademark hot towel shaves, skin fades and waxing, has left many locals scratching their neatly trimmed heads
The business opened in 2017 and slowly built up its reputation to become one of the busiest in town.
One of its bosses, Ako Omar, 35, said: ‘We’re called Istanbul Barbers, but the ownership is actually Kurdish Iraqi. We offer all the same services as any traditional Turkish barber.
‘We’ve worked hard to get a really good reputation in Darlington and people in the town have supported us really well.
‘People started to want the Turkish style of barbering because they got their hair cut when they went on holiday and like the style, so when that became available at home they started coming to barbers like us.
‘It’s not usually as busy as it is today because everyone wants to get their hair cut before their Christmas night out, so it’s been full all day for the last few days.
‘We’re a hard-working business so it’s frustrating to see Turkish barber shops being linked to crime. Owners have worked hard to build up their businesses and make them into a success, it’s insulting to hear things like that.’
‘You only have to look at the shop today to see that people in Darlington value what we do.’
Serhan Duman, 34, who moved to County Durham from Turkey ten-years ago-and trained as a barber in Darlington, before opening his barber’s shop Serhan’s in Crown Street in 2022, is fully booked through the Christmas period.
Serhan Duman, 34, moved to County Durham from Turkey ten-years ago-and trained as a barber in Darlington
Another barbers is pictured in Darlington – this time with its shutters down. One Turkish barber says the barbering culture is ‘changing in the UK’
He said: ‘Things are going really well, we’re not on a busy street so we rely on appointments, but our reputation is spreading because people know we do a good job here.
‘People might question, “Why are there so many Turkish barbers?” but the barbering culture is changing in the UK.
‘In Britain people used to go to the barber because they needed a haircut, but now it’s a more social experience like going to the gym.
‘We have guys who come in here every four days or so because they want their style to be consistent and they like the experience they have when they’re here.
‘We have a good, clean, salon and we hope we create a good atmosphere, and have a really good relationship with our customers. Many of them have become friends now.’
But local barber Craig Egan, 31, who opened his 1950s retro-style barbers called Oakley’s in August last year is not so enthusiastic about the arrival of Turkish barbers, although he does not begrudge their success While his business continues to flourish, he recently had a Turkish barber open a few doors down, the latest in a growing number that he believes ‘dilutes’ the barbering tradition he was trained in.
Craig said: ‘I think Turkish barbering cheapens the craft, it dilutes an industry where there are still people who are really passionate about what they do.
‘Unfortunately, there are only a handful of traditional barbers left in Darlington, the people who really care about it and strive to give a quality service every time a customer walks through the door.
Local barber Craig Egan, 31, who opened his 1950s retro-style barbers called Oakley’s in August last year is not so enthusiastic about the arrival of Turkish barbers
The last time that Darlington found itself top of a league-style table was in the 1930s when it had more cinema seats than any other town in the UK, according to Darlington Borough Council
‘You have to look at the number of Turkish barbers and wonder how they’re all still going. I walk past them all the time and see that they don’t have any customers in, that’s the case quite a lot of the time.
‘I’m in this business so I know what it costs to run and equip a barber shop, and you have to ask yourself whether all the money that goes into some of those businesses is made by cutting hair.
‘They keep springing up though, especially close to established barbers where there is a passing trade. Thankfully it hasn’t affected us and we’ve remained very busy.
‘The other issue I have with them is skin infections. I had to say to a customer that I wouldn’t be able to cut his hair because he’d contracted ringworm. He’d been to a Turkish barber, and it looks as though the equipment hadn’t been kept clean.
‘This is a problem we’re hearing all the time. When people are getting really close shaves to the skin it’s vital that your equipment is kept completely sterile and unfortunately that isn’t always the case.
‘I want our business to be a part of the community, and I like to give something back. I grew up on a council estate and I know how tough it can be for parents when the kids are going back to school with the cost of buying new uniforms.
‘So, I offered free haircuts for kids in the run up to the start of the school term just to ease the burden of the cost a little bit for those who really need it.’
The rise in Turkish barbering hasn’t gone unnoticed by the town’s men who now have a bewildering choice of salons.
Rob Irish, 32, has observed that new Turkish barbers ‘seem to be opening up all the time’ and that in some parts of town there are ‘two or three on the same street’
Rob Irish, 32, said: ‘The Turkish-style shops seem to be opening up all the time. In some parts of town you’ll see two or three on the same street.
‘They seem to have a particular look, they’re offering an authentic Asian look, lots of leather upholstery and it gives the impression of offering a premium experience.
‘But it’s very often the case that you go past and they’re empty with the barbers having nothing to do. You have to wonder where the money is coming from to keep them open and also why we now have so many.’
Another resident of Cockerton, Darlington, said: ‘In the space of no more than six month a barbers has opened underneath where I live and another one next door but one.
‘I don’t know why Darlington needs this many barbers when it’s not really a particularly big town. ‘The Government decided to base a lot of Treasury jobs in Darlington so maybe they decided that would bring in more business, but otherwise I can’t see a reason for all the new salons.’
Students Toby Talbot-Landon, 17, and Freddie Gardner, 16, said they both used a British barber because it’s close to their college, but they admitted many of their friends used cheaper Turkish places.
Toby said: ‘It’s £15-£20 for a haircut at the barber I use, and you can get a haircut for about half that price at a Turkish barber so you can see why people use them. In some cases they’re charging as little as £7, which seems very cheap.’
Freddie added: ‘Because it’s so cheap it means people can go back a lot more often. A lot of lads have skin fades, and they grow out really quickly so they’re going to get them done once a week in some cases.’
Students Toby Talbot-Landon, 17, and Freddie Gardner, 16, said they both used a British barber because it’s close to their college, but they admitted many of their friends used cheaper Turkish places
Antalya Barbers in Manchester. Other barbers in the city have names like Istanbul Turkish Barbers and Karisma
The number of barbers in Eccles Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, has mushroomed from three to up to 16 in just a few years
The number of barbers in Eccles Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, has mushroomed from three to up to 16 in just a few years.
Most are Turkish businesses with names like Istanbul Turkish Barbers, Karisma, and Antalya Barbers.
When MailOnline visited the road, one shop had its lights off, but a worker was milling around inside while others had there shutters pulled down.
Several had no customers with just a lone man at each. One barber was seen spending an hour working on his car and then going to a nearby kebab shop
Mohammed Shekhani, 38, who is the manager of Antalya Barbers, said: ‘It’s crazy the number we have here now. We just had three just two or three years ago.
‘Now I have counted a total of 16 on this road and a bit further into Eccles town. There are too many and it has become difficult to make a living.’
MailOnline also found no shortage of Turkish barbers in the historic cathedral city of Winchester, Hampshire, which now has 80 barbers and beauty salons of all types, comparted to just 55 in 2010.
The bustling town centre has 13 Turkish barbers, many with garish signs and neon lights, in a half a mile radius from its statue of King Alfred the Great, considered the founder of England, at the top of the pedestrianised High Street.
The newest Turkish barbers in Winchester is called Turkuaz Barbers and is a two-minute walk from the High Street. It opened just over a year ago while the others have been up and running for several years
Nearby, with an ocean blue sign is Zaza Cutz while just off the indoor Brooks shopping centre is another simply called Turkish Barbers
The newest is called Turkuaz Barbers and is a two-minute walk from the High Street. It opened just over a year ago while the others have been up and running for several years.
Nearby, with an ocean blue sign is Zaza Cutz while just off the indoor Brooks shopping centre is another simply called Turkish Barbers. Others within the city walls are Iman, Bakkyard Barbsershop. Regime Barbers and Kutz of Winchester.
A MailOnline reporter who visited this week found the High Street and a regular market were packed with Christmas shoppers, but it wasn’t the same for many of the barber shops.
At Zaza Kutz, there was just one customer while there was nobody at Iman during lunchtime when office workers often pop out for a trim.
Locals are unphased by the growth of barber shops in Winchester with one store owner putting the rise down to the high turnover of customers and money.
Dean Marsh said he believed the shops in the city were always busy with staff working long hours. He said: ‘They have to be doing well because the council rates on the premises will be around £40,000 a year.
‘The thing about these places is that there is a quick turnover of customers. Each haircut probably only takes about 10-15 minutes so they can easily do four or five in an hour.
‘It is all about supply and demand. If people did not want to go these places they would soon close down.’
At Zaza Kutz, there was just one customer while there was nobody at Iman during lunchtime when office workers often pop out for a trim
Dean Marsh said he believed the shops in the city were always busy with staff working long hours
Edward Saunders-Gilbert who regularly pays £27 for a fade cut at the Turkish barbers in the Brook Square shopping centre in Winchester, said he was more than happy with the service he gets
Adam Swierczyvski, who runs a mobile snack stall opposite one of the Turkish barbers, said he was surprised to see how busy they were
Edward Saunders-Gilbert who regularly pays £27 for a fade cut at the Turkish barbers in the Brook Square shopping centre in Winchester, said he was more than happy with the service he gets.
He added: ‘I know there has been a big rise in some cities, but because they are spread out over a big area in Winchester you do not feel that there are too many.’
Another local, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I think the rise in the number of barber shops is down to the young population and being close to universities.
‘Most teens like a skin fade cut with clippers rather than a traditional haircut with a comb and scissors.’
A skin fade cut involves gradually increasing the length of hair from very short at the nape of the neck to longer at the top of the head.
Adam Swierczyvski, who runs a mobile snack stall opposite one of the Turkish barbers, said he was surprised to see how busy they were.
He said: ‘When they open at 9am there are people waiting to get in, and they are busy all day. I know some people have raised suspicions about how many Turkish barbers have opened, but they are all legit.’
The commuter town of Brentwood, Essex, which featured widely in TOWIE, has one barber shop or salon for every 823 residents, with 95 premises compared to 75 five-years-ago a slightly lower proportion than Darlington. MailOnline found ten hairdressers and barbers along a half-mile stretch of the high street, with four of them being Turkish.
MailOnline found ten hairdressers and barbers along a half-mile stretch of the high street, with four of them being Turkish, in the commuter town of Brentwood
Anthony McGurk, 74, said: ‘There’s far too many now. They seem to be everywhere. I think it’s has a detrimental effect on the town because we lack the diversity in the variety of shops we once had.
‘I’ve lived here for 45 years and the small independent businesses have now all but disappeared. It’s a real shame. There used to be more choice in the town centre, but it all seems to be barbershops or charity stores opening up now.
‘We’ve lost about three gentlemen’s clothes shops in recent years. Barclays Bank went six months ago. I think it’s all part of the general downturn of the High Street.’
Sharon Jones, 57, who was out with her sister, Christine, 60, pushing her five-month old grandson in a pram, said: ‘I used to love coming up to town and just having a wander around the shops. But there’s absolutely nothing here for anyone now. You can’t have a browse around a barber shop or nail bar.
‘If you ask me, Brentwood High Street is a dive. A lot of the clothes shops like New Look and Next have gone and others are going. We don’t have a cinema any more, some of the restaurants and cafes have closed and we used to have a lovely shoe shop but that’s gone too. There just isn’t many places to go and shop these days.
‘It’s not so bad for us because we have cars and can drive somewhere better, but the older generation who rely on public transport are pretty much confined to Brentwood. Where is all our council tax going? It’s not being spent on the High Street that’s for sure.’
Standing outside The Swan pub, Richard Palmer, 43, said: ‘There seems to be millions of hairdressers and barber shops in Brentwood now. It’s a bit strange if you ask me, why does there need to be so many? I’d prefer if we had more choice, there isn’t a great selection of shops here any more.
‘We’ve always had hairdressers and barbers in the town, but there seems to be so many now and I don’t think it’s necessary. I wish there were more shops.’
Golden Scissors Barber shop on Harrow Road in Westminster, London. The district has one premises for every 323 residents, with Kensington and Chelsea having one for every 517
Unsurprisingly the highest number of barber shops and beauty salons per head of population is in central London
Unsurprisingly the highest number of barber shops and beauty salons per head of population is in central London with Westminster having one premises for every 323 residents, Kensington and Chelsea having one for every 517, Camden having one for every 605 and Islington having one for every 689.
Other than Luton, the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Hackney have seen the UK’s highest percentage rise in the number of premises with each seeing an increase of more than 55 per cent in the last five years.
In Stoke Newington, a village-like area of Hackney, there are 11 barber shops along a one mile stretch of road, the majority being Turkish.
Wedged between upmarket coffee shops and a wide range of restaurants, a barber can be spotted every two minutes while walking down the busy pavement. Some of the Turkish barbers, such as Golden Scissors, Altin Maka’s and Pasha’s barbers have been on the road since as long ago as 2008, reflecting the large Turkish population within Hackney borough.
Other shops have sprung up more recently and, reflect how the country’s high streets have been changing.
Izmir’s barbers, for example, in its past life was a social and snooker club on Stoke Newington High Street. It was later a taxi hub before changing into a barbers back in 2018.
Meanwhile, Stokey Barber’s at the top of the road, has changed hands over the years and prior to that was an internet cafe. Gino’s barber shop in nearby Church Street has witnessed first-hand the surge in demand for haircuts.
Rob Marchese, son of Gino, told MailOnline: ‘We opened during the 1960s when it was fashionable to have long hair, but since then men have become a lot more self-conscious with how they look in terms of hairdressing and fashion.
Stokey Barbers is a non Turkish barber shop in Stoke Newington. It lies at the top of the road and has changed hands over the years and prior to that was an internet cafe
Another barbers called Golden Scissors can be found in Stoke Newington
‘The cosmetics industry used to always target women, but now they have realised they are missing out on 50 per cent of the market, and in the last decade shorter haircuts have become more in fashion, and they need constant attention.
‘In Stoke Newington we have also had an influx of Turkish and Kurdish people as they grow up in the trade, set up a family business and work it.
‘People always mention money laundering, but it is very easy to launder money in all sorts of businesses, and it is unfair to judge everyone the same because not everyone is like that.
‘In reality, it is a cheap business to open up and all you need is a pair of hands and a pair of scissors. It is a bit stupid when people open shops next to each other, but if you’re confident in your business there’s no reason not to.’
Mr Marchese said the barber shops in Stoke Newington had a steady flow of customers, but he believes that the boom in premises in smaller places across could be more sinister.
He said: ‘It is extraordinary in these little towns out of London where you have tiny populations, and eight barber shops have opened on one high street. At least in Stoke Newington, we are very densely populated, so you have a chance of customers going into all the barber shops along here.
‘But when you’ve only got a population of 1,000 or so people, and a load of barber shops, it might go into the darker side of things.’
Roger Taylor, who has run the jewellery store Metal Crumble for three decades next door to Gino’s, said there was much less variety on the high street now than there used to be.
Roger Taylor, who has run the jewellery store Metal Crumble for three decades next door to Gino’s, said there was much less variety on the high street now than there used to be
He said: ‘I’ve seen Stoke Newington high street change in many ways but probably since the early 2000s in the most obvious ways. You won’t see this now, but the council used to say it wanted to keep a large variety of shops in the area and have a big mix of what’s going on. That’s all long gone. Now you have a much more condensed amount of businesses on the high street in terms of variety. There’s been a huge increase in food and drinks stores as well as, of course, barbers. Some are busy, others are less busy.’
Julian Korosec who runs independent locksmith GK Locks added: ‘Everything has changed in the last three or four years. It used to be very cosmopolitan; you would have a mix of everything on the high street. Cinemas, a woodwork shop and your Sainsbury’s. Some shops might be used as fronts but it’s not my job to know, I’m sure there is but I am certainly not aware of any.’
In the neighbouring borough of Haringey, along Green Lanes amidst the crowds of Turkish and Mediterranean restaurants and general stores, there are seven barbers within a mile of one another. Even the more central parts of the capital have seen an influx of barbers and salons.
In Westminster borough – home to tourist spots such as the London Eye and Houses of Parliament – there has been an increase of almost 30 per cent since 2019, with small shops popping up all over the area.
On Harrow Road, between Little Venice and leafy Maida Vale, there are 11 barbers in a half mile stretch of road.
One woman who lives in the area told MailOnline: ‘There doesn’t seem to be many women’s hairdressers here, but for men, all they need to do is walk a few steps and they land in one.
Unique Cutz Barber shop on Fernhead Road (just off of Harrow Road) in Westminster, London. There is nothing ‘unique’ about barbers however as between Little Venice and leafy Maida Vale, there are 11 in a half mile stretch of road
‘My husband uses a Turkish barber along here which he likes, but he’s really spoiled for choice. There are so many.’
Some shops such as Costas and Sol’s Gents, have been on the road for years, while others have popped up more recently, seemingly after the pandemic. Gent’s Grooming, located just a minute walk from another branch of the chain Golden Scissors, was a cafe prior to the pandemic. Similarly, the shop front now housing Maestro’s barbers has seen various changes over the last decade. It was home to a building surveyors before the pandemic, and was a William Hill betting shop for years prior to that.
A lifelong resident said: ‘I’ve not noticed a big uptake in barbers, salons and hairdressers. The barbers I’ve noticed seem to have always been there, maybe a few have come and gone but a lot of them have been refurbished.
‘For a while we had loads of chicken shops coming and going or those little pound stores whereas when I was younger you had your bakeries, your traditional sweet shops, things like that.’
Despite most barbers acting legally, MailOnline found a number of operators linked to drug gangs or crimes such as people smuggling.
Salih Saruhan, 32, who ran the Brothers and Scissors barber’s shop in Sheerness, Kent, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in August last year for attempting to smuggle 10kg of cocaine worth £1 million into the UK in a shipment of bananas.
National Crime Agency officers saw the former builder and window cleaner, and two other men, leave his barber’s shop with extendable ladders and walk along the seafront to the Port of Sheerness where he and an accomplice scaled the fence.
Salih Saruhan, 32, who ran the Brothers and Scissors barber’s shop in Sheerness, Kent, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in August last year
The men who attempted to smuggle the drugs through the Port of Sheerness are pictured
Saruhan and Bourke used ladders to get to refrigerated shipping containers at the Port of Sheerness
The men attempted to smuggle drugs through the Port of Sheerness
The pair headed to a number of refrigerated containers that had arrived from Costa Rica earlier in the day, and opened the hatch of one, before being captured by Border Force officers. All three men pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to a charge of smuggling drugs into the UK.
Saruhan’s jail sentence was a dramatic fall from grace for him, as he had been nominated as Britain’s best wet shaver in London and the south east in 2018.
He also hit the headlines in 2012 when he declared he was allergic to hair and would suffer hay fever-like symptoms such as itchy eyes when exposed to it.
Another case which highlighted the dubious nature of some barber shops was that of Hewa Rahimpur, 30, and his gang of fellow Iranian Kurds who ran a huge people smuggling ring before his arrest in 2022.
Rahimpur and his accomplices were said to have provided small boats for 10,000 migrants, mostly living in camps in northern France, to cross the English Channel and start a new life in the UK.
The former barber’s gang netted £13 million in cash from the crossings and he is said to have laundered the cash by getting back into the hairstyling business and opening a salon in Camden, north London.
He was extradited from the UK to stand trial in Belgium last year and is now serving an 11-year sentence for people-trafficking. Rahimpur, who had arrived in the UK illegally and was granted asylum after claiming to have suffered ‘political oppression’ in his home country, was driving a top-of-the-range Mercedes when he was caught by police.
MailOnline found that a barber with two shops who was jailed for six years for transporting £1m worth of cocaine from Liverpool to Manchester has now started cutting hair again on his release from prison.
Another case which has highlighted the dubious nature of some barber shops was that of Hewa Rahimpur, 30
Scott Patel, 36, was locked up in 2021 after telling police that he had been offered just £500 to transport 10kg of the drug which was found stashed behind secret panels in a Ford C-Max.
Patel had claimed he struggled he had agreed to transport the drugs while struggling financially during the Covid-19 pandemic. His shop was taken over by friends, who allowed him to work there after his release from prison last summer, and he later set up a new shop in at a spa in Horwich, Lancashire.
He had no comment to make when MailOnline visited the fully-booked salon this week.
Albanian barber Gul Wali Jabarkhel also used his shop in Colindale, North London, as a base for a smuggling racket in which he tried to recruit lorry drivers to bring migrants to the UK hidden in their cargo.
Jabarkhel, 33, had offered to pay £2,500 to lorry drivers for each person smuggled in from France or Belgium, but he fled to Kabul, Afghanistan, after realising that police were watching him in 2020.
He attempted to return to the UK a year later by trying to hire one of the same lorry drivers, paying him £7,500 to bring him and an accomplice back over the Channel.
Two of his associates were caught handing over the cash at the London Gateway Services on the M1 and were arrested for money-laundering offences.
Albanian barber Gul Wali Jabarkhel also used his shop in Colindale, North London, as a base for a smuggling racket in which he tried to recruit lorry drivers to bring migrants to the UK hidden in their cargo
Both men claimed the money was to buy barbering equipment, but the authorities had been monitoring their mobile phones and text messages and knew their explanation was false.
Jabarkhel from Cricklewood was convicted alongside three others after a trial at Kingston Crown Court and jailed for ten years for his role in what the NCA described as a ‘ruthless operation when human beings were little more than goods to profit from’.
West London snipper Tarek Namouz, 43, the proprietor of Boss Crew Barbers, was jailed for 12 years in January last year for sending £11,280 to Syria to ‘purchase weapons and explosives’ to use against President Assad’s government forces.
He was found guilty of eight counts of entering into a funding arrangements for terrorism at Kingston Crown Court. Much of the money he sent was said to be from Covid pandemic bounce back loans that he had received.
The barber, who lived above his salon in Hammersmith, boasted to a prison visitor while on remand awaiting trial that he had actually managed to transfer £25,000 to alleged Islamic State supporters he was financing.
He was also convicted of possessing terrorist information after videos detailing how to make ball bearing bombs, and how to use knives for lone wolf attacks, were found on his phone.
West London snipper Tarek Namouz, 43, the proprietor of Boss Crew Barbers, was jailed for 12 years in January last year for sending £11,280 to Syria to ‘purchase weapons and explosives’ to use against President Assad’s government forces
After he was sentenced, Namouz shouted at a police officer in court: ‘May Allah destroy you. We will meet on judgment day. You’re a kafir (non-believer) and you will end up in hell.’
Other Turkish barber shops have been hit with fines for employing illegal workers include First Class Turkish Barbers in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and Poynton Turkish Barber Shio [in nearby Poynton which were fined £15,000 and £10,000 respectively earlier this year.
In February the minister for illegal immigration, Michael Tomlinson, joined Immigration Enforcement officers on a raid at a barber shop in Cowley, Oxford, suspected of employing foreign nationals illegally. Intelligence suggested an Albanian asylum seeker, who recently absconded, was likely working at the business.
Filmed by GB News cameras, officers found no trace of the missing Albanian, but they did find a Colombian asylum seeker working illegally at the barbers. The man was arrested and taken away for questioning.