A popular radio DJ who was friends with A-list celebrities was kidnapped and tortured to death in a restaurant just yards from Spurs stadium, a court heard.
Koray Alpergin, 43, owned Turkish radio station Bizim FM and had connections to celebrities such as rapper P Diddy and internet sensation ‘Salt Bae’.
He was abducted from outside his north London home with his girlfriend Gozde Dalbudak and ‘frog-marched’ into a white van after a dinner in Mayfair, the Old Bailey heard.
The DJ suffered “horrific injuries” before he was killed, while Ms Gozde was locked in a toilet for two days, jurors were told.
His naked body was then dumped in woodland in Loughton, Essex, before being found by a dog walker, the court heard.
Mr Alpergin (left) was the owner of Turkish radio station Bizim FM and had connections to celebrities such as rapper P Diddy and Turkish restauranteur and internet sensation ‘Salt Bae’ (right)
Radio DJ Koray Alpergin (right) is pictured with rapper P Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs
Steffan Gordon, 34, Tejean Kennedy, 33, Samuel Owusu-Opuku, 35, Junior Kettle, 32, and Ali Kavak, 26, all deny murder and false imprisonment.
Kennedy, Owusu-Opuku, Kettle and Kavak also deny the kidnapping of Mr Alpergin and Ms Dalbudak on October 13, 2022.
Kavak and Erdogan Ulcay, 56, deny perverting the course of justice by assisting in the disposal of Mr Alpergin’s body and the destruction by fire of a Fiat Diablo van and Renault Megane.
Mr Alpergin and Ms Dalbudak had arrived back at his flat in Ebony Crescent, Enfield, at 10.25pm, said prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC.
Mr Aylett added: ‘As Koray Alpergin got out of his Audi, a man ran towards him – the man was followed by three others.
Police believe Mr Alpergin, the owner of London radio station Bizim FM, was forced into a white van outside their Enfield home with a 33-year-old woman.
A member of the group had fitted a tracking device to Mr Alpegrin’s car, jurors at the Old Bailey were told.
“Although Mr. Alpergin tried to run away, he was quickly caught. He called for help but was frogmarched back past his own car and put into a white van parked nearby.
‘Much later, police found outside the flat a bloodstained fragment torn from Koray Alpergin’s shirt. So he must have fought, but he was just outnumbered.
‘Gozde Dalbudak had stayed in the car. She later told police she heard the sound of a scuffle.
‘A masked man had appeared at the window. He was armed with a knife. He told Ms. Dalbudak to be quiet. She got out of the car and he led her to the van.
“The van was driven away with Mr. Alpergin and Ms. Dalbudak in the back. Ms Dalbudak has said the men were on top of them.
‘In total, the Public Prosecution Service suggests that as many as nine men drove to the scene of that kidnapping in the white van and two cars.’
Two other men, Ali Yildrim and Cem Oman, have fled and are believed to be abroad, while the identities of the other two men are unknown, the court heard.
A member of the group had fitted a tracking device to Mr Alpegrin’s car, jurors were told.
Mr Ayett said: “The three vehicles had arrived in the Olivia Court area at around 10pm and had then lay in wait until Koray Alpergin’s Audi appeared.
“Ms. Dalbudak had only arrived from Turkey a few days earlier, so they may not have expected him to have company.”
The group had gathered earlier that evening at a cafe in south Tottenham, Mr Aylett said.
After the kidnapping, the convoy made their way to a restaurant and wine bar called the Stadium Lounge or ‘the Ezgi Turku Bar’, near the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the court heard.
“It was here, in the Stadium Lounge, that Koray Alpergin was murdered,” Mr Aylett continued.
“As for Godze Dalbudak, she spent almost two days locked in a toilet in the Stadium Lounge.
‘She was not released until the late afternoon of October 15.
‘After the murder of Koray Alpergin, the prosecution alleges that his body was taken in the back of a black Volkswagen Polo to the Triumph Trading Estate, where the sixth defendant, Erdogan Ulcay, rented two separate storage units.
‘In the early hours of October 15, the Renault Megane was driven to Loughton in Essex.
‘The naked body of Koray Alpergin was dumped in a forest there. A few hours later the body was found by a man walking his dog.
‘Koray Alpergin had suffered the most horrific injuries.’
Mr Alpergin was found near Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate in Loughton, Essex at 11.55am on Saturday 15 October 2022 and was pronounced dead at the scene. Pictured: Police vehicles on scene at Oakwood Hill
His naked body was then dumped in woodland in Loughton, Essex, before being found by a dog walker, the court heard.
Mr Alpergin was brutally beaten with a baseball bat, had boiling water poured over him and other gruesome torture methods were used, the court heard.
The killing was likely linked to drugs and organized crime, jurors were told.
An autopsy found 94 separate injuries, including cuts and bruises and a blow to the head that caused brain damage.
He had neck injuries consistent with the use of a ligature to strangle him, 14 broken ribs and bruising to the chest indicating he had used a baseball bat.
There were wounds on the skin consistent with boiling water, stab wounds on the soles of his feet, and other parts of his body were violated.
Mr Aylett said: ‘It is clear that Koray Alpergin was stripped naked and brutally tortured before his death.
‘Based on the number and nature of the injuries sustained, the prosecutor suggests that it is not difficult to imagine a group of sadistic criminals taking turns inflicting injury, whether with punches and kicks, hitting him with a club, burn with boiling water or stab in his feet.
‘The only mercy, if it is a mercy, was that the pathologist was of the opinion that Koray Alpergin could not have survived these terrible injuries for long and certainly not for more than a few hours.
‘The prosecutor suggests that, given the number of people and vehicles involved, and the use of vehicles with false number plates which were subsequently destroyed by fire, these crimes have all the hallmarks of being linked to serious, organized crime – almost certainly drugs.
‘If that is true, it seems to follow that Koray Alpergin must also have been involved in the drug world.
“The prosecution alleges that Koray Alpergin was kidnapped and tortured – either to be punished for something he had done, or to be forced to give up something he knew – perhaps the whereabouts of drugs or money.
“The prosecution does not know who actually murdered Koray Alpergin, nor do they know which of the defendants, if any, even participated in the violence perpetrated against Koray Alpergin.
“As a matter of law, and you might think as a matter of common sense, that doesn’t matter.
“Under the law, anyone who was party to a plan that would intentionally cause Koray Alpergin at least serious bodily harm would be guilty of murder.”
Kennedy, of Cricklewood Broadway, Cricklewood, Owusu-Opuku, of Dunbar Road, Wood Green, Kettle, of Kingsdown Road, Islington and Kavak, of De Quincey Road, Tottenham, deny murder and two charges of kidnap and false imprisonment.
Gordon, of Dehavilland Close, Northolt, denies murder and two counts of false imprisonment.
Ulcay, of Oakeshott Avenue, Camden and Kavak deny obstruction of justice.
The process continues.