DJ tortured by members of 'international organised crime', court hears

12 December 2023 , 21:21

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Koray Alpergin, pictured with 'Salt Bae' chef Nusret Gökçe, was tortured to death by members of an organised crime group

Two members of an "international organised crime" group have been jailed in the UK after a Turkish DJ was kidnapped and tortured to death while his girlfriend was forced to hear his screams.

Father-of-two Mehmet Koray Alpergin and partner Gozde Dalbudak were snatched as they returned home from an Italian restaurant in Mayfair, central London, in October last year.

Ms Dalbudak was locked in a toilet at the Stadium Lounge restaurant near the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for two days as her boyfriend cried out in agony nearby.

Mr Alpergin, who had become involved in the drugs trade, was savagely beaten with a baseball bat and had boiling water poured on him as he endured hours of pain.

Jurors found Tejean Kennedy, 33, and Ali Kavak, 26, guilty of the kidnap and false imprisonment of the couple and Mr Alpergin's manslaughter earlier this month, and they were sentenced on Tuesday.

Tejean Kennedy, 33, was found guilty of manslaughter, kidnap and false imprisonment (Met Police)

Ali Kavak, 26, from Tottenham, was found guilty of manslaughter, kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice (Met Police)

Post-mortem investigations found the bottoms of his feet were repeatedly stabbed, and he was also sexually tortured with items forced into his rectum. His naked burned body was eventually dumped in woodland in Loughton, Essex, before it was found by a dog walker. When the kidnappers let Ms Dalbudak go, she took a cab to a restaurant she had been at 48 hours before, where the owner thought she was homeless woman begging for food.

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Describing the moment Mr Alpergin and his girlfriend were kidnapped, Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said: "They were attacked by a group of males and bundled into the back of a van. Ms Dalbudak was locked in a lavatory. She was terrified and cold. That first night, Ms Dalbudak had to listen to the sound of Koray Alpergin being tortured and there was no doubt that he was tortured to death."

The court heard how Mr Alpergin's wife was forced to listen to his screams as he was held hostage in toilet and tortured (PA)

The court heard Koray Alpergin's son now suffers from visions and nightmares of the violence that was inflicted on his father (Met Police)

At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Judge Whitehouse said drugs were "at the heart" of the case, referencing evidence by prosecutors that it was related to "international organised crime". She described Mr Alpergin's death as a "horrific murder", adding if the defendants were convicted of that offence they would have received a life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years and "probably considerably higher".

My Alpergin's son, who was 15 when his father died, said in a statement read to court: "Not a day goes by I don't think of him and miss him being around.. He was a good man and an amazing father." The court heard he suffers from visions and nightmares of the violence that was inflicted on his father.

Judge Whitehouse sentenced Kavak, from Tottenham, to 13 years' imprisonment and Kennedy, of Cricklewood Broadway, to 20 years. Gordon, of Northolt, was sentenced to eight years and Owusu-Opoku, of Wood Green, to seven years' imprisonment.
Yigit Hurman, 18, from Muswell Hill, north London, who admitted perverting the course of justice, was sentenced to two years.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas