A well-known DJ suffered a horrific fate at the hands of "sadistic thugs" who kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately left him to die in the woods, according to chilling court details.
Koray Alpergin, a prominent DJ and owner of Turkish radio station Bizim FM, was abducted alongside his girlfriend Gozde Dalbudak after dining in Mayfair, central London, in October 2022. After their harrowing ordeal, Mr. Alpergin was subjected to 94 brutal injuries at a restaurant near Tottenham Hotspur's stadium on White Hart Lane, while Ms. Dalbudak, aged 34, was confined to a toilet for two days.
The community figure, who had connections with stars like P Diddy and 'Salt Bae', was later found dead at 43 in an Essex woodland by a dog walker. His body bore evidence of extreme violence, including 14 broken ribs, severe head trauma, neck ligature marks, and genital injuries, as heard in the Old Bailey.
In December last year, four men were convicted for their roles in the kidnapping, with two others having fled the UK and still at large, the court was informed. Currently, Isay Stoyanov, 43, and Dylan Weatherley, 20, are accused of murdering Mr Alpergin, two counts of kidnap and two counts of false imprisonment, which they deny.
The jury has been made aware that another individual, Kyle Mitchell-Peart, 31, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and false imprisonment charges, reports the Mirror.
Prosecuting, Crispin Aylett KC told the court that on the evening of Thursday 13 October 2022, Mehmet Koray Alpergin and his girlfriend Gozde Dalbudak, went to a swanky restaurant in Mayfair. Aylett said: "On the evening of Thursday 13 October 2022, getting on to two years ago, the victims in the case, Mehmet Koray Alpergin and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak went to an expensive restaurant in Mayfair in central London. As Koray Alpergin got out of his Audi car, a man ran towards him, that man was followed by three others, although Mr Alpergin tried to run away, they quickly caught him."
The KC continued: "He was frogmarched past his own car and bundled into a white van parked nearby. Ms Dalbudak had remained in the car, she was later to tell the police that she heard the sound of a scuffle. A masked man appeared at the window of the car, he had a knife, he told Ms Dalbudak to be quiet."
Aylett explained: "She got out of the car and he led her over to the van. The van was driven away with Mr Alpergin and Ms Dalbudak in the back. The prosecution suggest that no less than eight men had driven in two vehicles, a white van and a Volkswagen Polo."
The lawyer concluded: "The occupants of those two vehicles had waited for Mr Alpergin's Audi to arrive. Four men were convicted of the kidnap of Koray Alpergin and Gozde Dalbudak. Two other men have fled the country, they are believed to be in Turkey. The seventh man was Kyrie Mitchell-Peart."
Jurors heard how a tracking device was placed on the car, which allowed the group to follow it.
After waiting for and then kidnapping both Mr Alpergin and Ms Dalbudak, the two vehicles drove back to the Tottenham area, arriving at around 11:20 pm.
The van then went down an alleyway at the back of a restaurant named Stadium Lounge.
Mr Aylett QC continued: "It was here, in the Stadium Lounge, that Koray Alpergin was murdered."
"As for Godze Dalbudak, she spent almost two days shut up inside a lavatory at the Stadium Lounge. The door to the lavatory was blocked by a large refrigerator. It was not until late on the Saturday afternoon, Ms Dalbudak was released."
"In the early hours of Saturday, the Renault Megane was driven to Loughton in Essex. There, the naked body of Koray Alpergin was dumped in some woods. A few hours later, the body was found by a man walking his dog."
A post-mortem revealed the nature of the injuries Mr Alpergin had suffered, with several cuts and bruises, stab wounds to the soles of both of his feet, and scalding injuries to his skin, in addition to the more severe head, chest and neck injuries.
Mr Aylett QC added: "From the number and nature of the injuries that were sustained, the prosecution suggest that it is not hard to envisage a group of sadistic thugs taking it turns to inflict injury, whether with punches and kicks, hitting him with a bat, scalding him with boiling water or stabbing his feet."
"The only mercy, if mercy it be, was that the pathologist considers that Koray Alpergin could not have survived these terrible injuries for very long and certainly not for more than a few hours."
The court was told that Mr Alpergin had been on edge for a while. On 24 September 2022, he and a friend were driving back to his place in separate vehicles.
Mr Alpergin mentioned to his mate that his car was making "odd noises" prompting his friend to question: "Are you sure your car was not bugged? " It emerged that a tracking device had been attached to his vehicle just the previous day, the court was informed. Later, as his friend was about to leave, he asked them to check for a white van parked outside.
"Koray Alpergin must have had some idea of what was in store for him," Mr Aylett remarked.
The trial continues.
