Three men have been sentenced in connection with the brutal kidnapping, torture, and murder of popular DJ Mehmet Koray Alpergin in Tottenham last year. The 43-year-old DJ and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak, were abducted after returning home from an Italian restaurant in Mayfair in October 2022.
The couple was taken to an abandoned wine bar near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Mr Alpergin was subjected to horrific torture, including being beaten, throttled, scalded with boiling water, stabbed, and severely mutilated. His body was later dumped in woodland near the Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate in Loughton, while Ms Dalbudak was held captive for two days before being released and given money for a taxi.
Jurors were told that the murder bore “all the hallmarks” of serious organised crime, likely linked to the world of drugs. A post-mortem revealed 94 separate injuries on Mr Alpergin’s body.
During the trial, the prosecution revealed that eight men were involved in the kidnapping, with some having fitted a tracking device to Mr Alpergin’s car. Although two of the men convicted, Dylan Weatherley and Isay Stoyanov, were not directly involved in the violence inflicted on Mr. Alpergin, their involvement in the kidnapping and aftermath was clear.
Dylan Weatherley, 20, from Beaufoy Road in Tottenham, was found guilty of manslaughter, kidnap, and false imprisonment. On September 5, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to five years in prison, which will be added to his life sentence for a separate conspiracy to murder, with a minimum term of 16 years.
Isay Stoyanov, 44, a Bulgarian painter and decorator from Seven Sisters, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 18 months for his role in cleaning up the crime scene.
Kyrie Mitchell-Peart, 33, from Barnet, who had previously admitted to the kidnap and false imprisonment of Mr Alpergin and his girlfriend, was sentenced to six years and four months in prison.
In a separate trial last year, four additional men were convicted of their involvement in the crime. Tejean Kennedy, 33, from Cricklewood Broadway, and Ali Kavak, 26, from De Quincey Road in Tottenham, were found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment, and manslaughter. Samuel Owusu-Opoku, 36, from Dunbar Road in Wood Green, was found guilty of two counts of kidnap, while Steffan Gordon, 35, from Dehavilland Close in Northolt, admitted to kidnap and was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment.
The group’s heinous actions have left the Turkish community in shock. Mr Alpergin, originally from Northern Cyprus, was a well-known figure, owning Bizim FM, a Turkish language radio station in London.
Two additional suspects are still at large and are believed to have fled the country. Authorities are continuing their investigation into the case.
