Fallen soccer star Kerem Bulut, who was once tipped for international greatness, could walk free from prison early next month after spending the past two years behind bars.
Bulut has been in and out of prison since January 2022 after descending into a crippling drug addiction and life of petty crime.
During his last stint in custody for a bizarre robbery, Bulut’s girlfriend and accomplice in that offence overdosed on heroin she thought was cocaine, and died.
Bulut had seemed to have the footballing world at his feet until he was caught using cocaine in 2018, but he is still in jail more than three years after vowing to get himself off meth.
Since 2020, he has been prosecuted in courts across Sydney for a string of offences under the names Kerem Bulut, Karem Bulut, Kerim Bulut, Keiran Bulut and Kerim Bulet.
The 33-year-old pleaded guilty at Downing Centre District Court in June to demanding property by force while in company, and was sentenced on Thursday.
The onetime A-League cult hero with Western Sydney Wanderers was 31 and living in a notorious inner-city public housing block at the time of his latest crime.
Bulut was then in a relationship with Angel Mounce-Stephens – also known as Angela Yazgan – who had convictions for drug possession, theft, shoplifting and fraud.
Fallen soccer star Kerem Bulut, who was once tipped for international greatness, could walk from free prison early next month after spending the past two years behind bars. He is pictured with a woman who is not Angel Mounce-Stephens
His victim was a 37-year-old man from Bathurst, in the NSW central west, who was staying in Sydney with friends in late August 2023.
On August 31 that year, Bulut sent a series of texts to a friend who knew the victim, calling him by his first name.
In one message sent at about 7.30pm, Bulut randomly referred to former AFL player and commentator Rex Hunt, who is perhaps just as well-known for his fishing television shows.
‘Brother, send him girls photos, send him girls,’ the text began, according to a statement of facts tendered in court.
‘Go on Instagram, just pick any girl, model and that, say it’s the girls, this that, hook line and sinker brother, Rex Hunt the motherf***er, then we put him in the fishing net.’
About an hour later, Bulut’s friend contacted the victim via the encrypted messaging app Signal and asked if he wanted to ‘party with some girls at an Airbnb’ in Sydney’s east.
The friend sent the victim images of two women with the message: ‘The girls found [an] Airbnb in Coogee for $1000, and they are adamant they want it.’
According to the statement of facts, the victim agreed and about 11.30pm drove a rental car to a block of units in Bundock Street, South Coogee.
Kerem Bulut appeared to have the footballing world at his feet until he was caught using cocaine in 2018 – but three years after vowing to get himself off meth is still in jail
There, Bulut’s friend was waiting with two women, one of whom was Mounce-Stephens, according to court documents.
All four went up to a unit where Bulut confronted the victim in the loungeroom.
‘Sit down, we need to have a chat,’ Bulut told the victim after the friend and two women had left the room.
When the victim said, ‘I have been driving for a bit, I’m good,’ Bulut responded, ‘I have heard you’ve been talking s***’ and confronted him about his previous contact with Mounce-Stephens.
Bulut then used a closed fist to strike the victim to the side of his mouth, causing him to bleed, according to the court documents.
‘Sit the f*** down,’ Bulut said, before another man of large stature and ‘Islander heritage’ joined him in the loungeroom.
‘You’ve been talking s***, saying I’m a dog,’ Bulut told the victim, punching him in the side of the head as he tried to protect himself.
‘You’re going to give me money, everything you’ve got on you,’ Bulut warned.
Bulut played for the Australian U17, U20 and U23 sides before securing European contracts with clubs in Germany , Greece and Turkey, as well as his two stints with the Wanderers
The victim replied: ‘Come on man, I haven’t done anything wrong.’
Bulut asked the victim to hand over his phone and unlock it. He then used a banking app to transfer $600 belonging to Mounce-Stephens, court documents revealed.
The victim denied carrying a wallet and tried to move towards the door but the Islander winded him with a strike to the torso.
Bulut handed the victim a tissue to wipe blood from his lip, and the victim said he would try to get more money.
There was an argument over the keys to the rental car until the victim surrendered them. The Islander and Mounce-Stephens then went outside to the vehicle.
Bulut and the victim stayed upstairs and had further discussions before going down to the car, which the Islander plundered of goods.
The Islander left the scene after stealing the victim’s Louis Vuitton wallet, which contained $1500 in cash, as well as his sunglasses, Bluetooth speaker and a bottle of perfume.
Bulut took from the boot a G-Star hooded jumper, another Fendi jumper, a tracksuit, two T-shirts, three pairs of underwear, two pairs of socks and a pair of slides.
During his last stint in custody for a bizarre robbery, Bulut’s girlfriend and accomplice in that offence overdosed on heroin she thought was cocaine, and died
CCTV captured Bulut wearing the victim’s G-Star top near his home in Belvoir Street, Surry Hills at about 3am, and the Fendi jumper nearly an hour later.
Bulut was in possession of the Louis Vuitton wallet when stopped by police in nearby Devonshire Street four days later on September 5. He was arrested on September 11 at Maroubra police station while reporting for bail on an unrelated matter.
Bulut pleaded guilty to demanding property by force while in company at Downing Centre District Court on June 12 and was jailed for four years on Thursday.
A minimum term of two years was backdated to take into account the time Bulut had already spent in custody, meaning he will be eligible for parole on October 3.
Acting Judge Antony Townsden found special circumstances including Bulut’s remorse, guilty plea and the need for an extended period of supervision in the community once he was let out.
Mounce-Stephens was originally charged with robbery in company but that count was withdrawn at Downing Centre Local Court on August 8 last year.
On the same day she pleaded guilty to larceny of goods worth more than $5,000 but less than $15,000 and was placed on a nine-month intensive correction order.
The 43-year-old was found dead at her Newtown home in Sydney’s inner-west on August 30, three weeks after she was sentenced for her role in the robbery.
Bulut’s September 2023 arrest came 15 months after he had begged a magistrate for help overcoming an ice addiction he said began in jail.
Before his downfall, Bulut had been considered a potential successor to Socceroos legend Harry Kewell who would ultimately fill the goal-scoring gap left in the national team by his retirement.
The gun striker played for the Australian U17, U20 and U23 sides before securing European contracts with clubs in Germany, Greece and Turkey, as well as his two stints with the Wanderers.
