Turkish gardener jailed for life over murder of British woman in 2013

Veli Acar was convicted by a Turkish court of shooting dead Anne Bury

Anne Bury's Turkish villa where the murder took place (Rex)

A Turkish gardener who shot dead a British woman and seriously injured her son and mother at their holiday villa has been jailed for life.

Veli Acar shot Anne Bury, 56, in September 2013 after he entered her villa in Dalyan, Turkey, and injured her then 23-year-old son Alex and elderly mother Cecilla.

Acar, 48, who claimed to have been romantically involved with Ms Bury, was working as her gardener and property manager in the run-up to the attack.

Ms Bury’s family, who released a statement today confirming the life sentence passed down by a Turkish court, have disputed these claims and described Ms Bury as a “caring, compassionate, considerate and trusting woman".

"Although Anne was not able to give evidence and defend her reputation in person she did leave behind irrefutable documentary evidence which showed that there was no romantic relationship between her and her killer," the statement said.

It continued the claims were nothing more than an attempt to “sully her reputation in the vain hope of achieving a lighter sentence.”

Ms Bury, from Swainby, North Yorkshire, had worked as a risk manager for a Saudi-based medical company but owned the Turkish property where she would stay with her son and mother.

Mr Bury and his now 89-year-old grandmother were both injured in the attack, with Mr Bury forced to have a metal plate inserted in his leg after he was hit. Both were later treated at a Turkish hospital in Mugla.

In the statement, the Bury family thanked the “wonderful people of Dalyan and Mugla” for all the “happy memories”.

They added that although “justice has been done,” nothing could bring back their mother and daughter and ease the “grievous mental and physical wounds” they would carry “for the rest of our lives.”

Additional reporting by Press Association