A Turkish man has been jailed for 34 years for shooting dead a teenage girl who turned up at his house to collect his ex-girlfriend’s dog.

Ece Emine Yaman, age not given, fled her home in the Turkish city of Antalya after a furious row with her boyfriend Hasan Huseyin Demir, 30, and in her haste, she left behind her belongings and pet dog.

To avoid further complications with Demir, she arranged for her male friend Nazif Genc to go to the property and collect her things on 4th September of last year.

The boyfriend agreed and Genc visited the man’s home with his girlfriend, 19-year-old Rabia Cerci, who was sitting in the backseat of the car, according to local media.

The couple parked in front of the suspect’s house and Demir reportedly came out and threatened them with a gun.

Demir later said that the reason he was armed was because he had just heard a gunshot and thought it may have come from Genc’s car, which he did not recognise.

At the driver’s window, the suspect put his gun to Genc’s head as he sat at the wheel, prompting him to move suddenly, according to local media.

The sudden movement prompted the suspect to pull the trigger and the bullet reportedly hit the 19-year-old woman in the backseat.

Genc said: “He deliberately put the gun to my head and I pushed it away just as he fired.”

However, Demir claimed the shooting was an accident when he appeared in the 2nd High Criminal Court of Manavgat.

Defendant lawyer Ertekin Kok stated that his client did not intend to kill and said, “In my opinion, the incident is an armed threat or a simple injury as there is no deliberation and the riffle went off by accident. I demand my client’s release and acquittal.”

The suspect is quoted as saying: “He (Genc) swore at me, so I put the gun to the side of his head and he pushed it away with his hand which is when it accidentally went off.”

Demir said he did not know someone else was sitting in the backseat and had no intention of killing the woman, especially as he had never met her before.

He told the court: “I regret that I was involved in such an incident, I suffer remorse. I did not have the intention to do that. The rifle went off by accident. I did not shoot at anybody deliberately. I wish my condolences to the family of the deceased.”

According to reports, the police initially treated the killing as accidental but later they arrested Demir who was charged with murder.

He was jailed for 24 years for manslaughter over the death of Rabia Cerci and an additional 10 years for the attempted murder of Nafiz Genc, meaning 34 years in total.