Two brothers who worked at a chicken shop in north London are on trial accused of helping kidnap a well-known Turkish DJ who was later tortured and murdered, a court heard on Monday.
Prosecutors told jurors that Mehmet Koray Alpergin, 43, the founder of Turkish radio station Bizim FM, and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak, 32, were abducted after leaving an Italian restaurant in Mayfair on the night of Oct. 13 into Oct. 14, 2022. The prosecution alleges the brothers, Zubair Iqbal, 32, and his brother Kabeer Iqbal, 31, assisted a friend, Tejean Kennedy, in the planning or execution of the abduction or, alternatively, helped Kennedy avoid arrest.
Opening the prosecution case, Crispin Aylett KC said the couple were followed after dinner to Alpergin’s home in Enfield and that a tracking device had been placed on the DJ’s car three weeks earlier. Jurors were told that a group of men in a white van ambushed Alpergin as he got out of his car and that four others in a Volkswagen Polo monitored the tracker data to follow his journey. The court heard that Alpergin tried to flee but was overpowered, frog-marched past his own vehicle and forced into the van.
Dalbudak told police she heard a scuffle and was later moved to the van by a masked man armed with a knife. The jury heard she was subsequently held inside the toilet of a disused bar and restaurant on Tottenham High Road, known as the Stadium Lounge, for almost two days before being released.
Prosecutors said Alpergin endured a "horrific and sustained attack" after the van was driven to an alleyway off White Hart Lane, near Tottenham Hotspur football stadium. The court heard medical evidence that he sustained at least 94 injuries, including 14 broken ribs, severe head wounds, ligature marks to his neck and injuries to his genitals. His body was taken to woodland in Loughton, Essex, and dumped just over 24 hours later; it was discovered naked by a man walking his dog.
The case against the Iqbal brothers does not allege they directly took part in the abduction or the killing, Mr Aylett told the jury. He said the prosecution instead alleges they helped Kennedy carry out aspects of the plan and used Kennedy’s phone in Edmonton during the incident to create the impression he was elsewhere. The court heard Kennedy changed into dark clothing and left the clothes he had been wearing during the day with the brothers.
Mr Aylett told jurors the prosecution alleges Kennedy was a "sophisticated criminal" and a close associate of two men, Cem Orman and Ali Yildrim, who are believed to have left the UK for Turkey in the weeks after the killing and are thought to have been ring-leaders. Three of eight people involved in the events that night, including Kennedy, have been convicted of Alpergin’s manslaughter; others remain subject to legal proceedings or are believed to be overseas.
Zubair Iqbal, who the court heard owns a shop called Veri Peri on Ponders End High Street, and Kabeer Iqbal, who worked for him, deny a charge of conspiracy to kidnap and an alternative charge of assisting an offender. Both men, of addresses given in court as Montagu Gardens, Edmonton (Kabeer), and Howard Road, Ilford (Zubair), have pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution told jurors the brothers were regularly in touch with Kennedy and that evidence including communications and the use of Kennedy’s phone will be central to proving they aided his role. Defence counsel have argued the men did not know Alpergin’s identity and did not participate in the violence, the court was told.
The trial, before a jury at the Old Bailey, is ongoing.