Two brothers who worked in a London chicken shop are on trial accused of helping to kidnap Mehmet Koray Alpergin, a well‑known Turkish DJ and radio station owner who was later tortured and murdered, jurors were told.
Prosecutors say Alpergin, 43, and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak, 32, were abducted after leaving a Mayfair restaurant on the night of Oct. 13, 2022; Alpergin suffered numerous injuries and his naked body was dumped in woodland in Essex more than 24 hours later, the court heard.
Prosecutor Crispin Aylett KC told jurors that the defendants, brothers Kabeer Iqbal, 31, and Zubair Iqbal, 32, had assisted their friend Tejean Kennedy, 34, in planning and facilitating the abduction. The crown says the brothers helped to create the impression Kennedy was elsewhere during the kidnap by using his mobile phone and providing him with clothing, although they deny taking a direct part in the abduction or knowing Alpergin would be killed.
Jurors heard that Alpergin and Dalbudak were returning to Alpergin’s home in Enfield at about 10:25 p.m. when a tracker placed on Alpergin’s car three weeks earlier allowed a group of men to follow their progress. Kennedy and at least three others were alleged to have waited in a white van near the flat while another group monitored the tracker from a nearby Volkswagen Polo. When Alpergin stepped from the vehicle, the court heard, he was chased, overwhelmed and forced into the van.
Dalbudak told police she heard a scuffle and that a masked man with a knife ordered her to be quiet before also being placed in the van; she later described being locked inside the toilets of a disused venue on Tottenham High Road for almost two days, the trial was told.
Alpergin was taken to an alleyway near White Hart Lane in Tottenham, which leads to the back of a wine bar and restaurant called the Stadium Lounge, and subjected to what the prosecutor described as a "horrific and sustained attack." Medical evidence, the court was told, recorded at least 94 injuries, including 14 broken ribs, severe head injuries, ligature marks to the neck and injuries to the genitals. His body was driven to Loughton and left in woods where it was discovered by a man walking his dog.
Aylett said Kennedy was a close associate of two men, identified as Cem Orman and Ali Yildrim, who left the U.K. within weeks of the killing and are believed to be in Turkey. The prosecution alleges Orman and Yildrim were ring‑leaders and that Kennedy played a leading role on the night of the kidnap.
Three of the alleged eight members of the group, including Kennedy, have been convicted of manslaughter in relation to Alpergin’s death. No one has yet been convicted of murder in the case. The two brothers face charges of conspiracy to kidnap and, in the alternative, assisting an offender; both deny the allegations.
Zubair Iqbal is said to have owned a shop called Veri Peri on Ponders End High Street in Enfield, where his brother Kabeer worked. Aylett told the jury that Kennedy left his telephone and daytime clothing with the brothers during the abduction and that they used the device to access the internet to suggest Kennedy was in Edmonton at the time.
Alpergin founded Bizim FM and was described in court as a popular figure in the Turkish community with connections to international entertainers. The trial, which is continuing, is hearing detailed forensic and witness evidence about the planning and execution of the abduction and the subsequent attempts by some suspects to leave the country.
Kabeer Iqbal, of Montagu Gardens, Edmonton, and Zubair Iqbal, of Howard Road, Ilford, both deny conspiracy to kidnap and the alternative charge of assisting an offender. The hearing will resume with further evidence to be heard.