Overview

• Sentencing was adjourned until 10am Friday after a heated hearing for five men convicted over a June 29, 2023 ambush at a music video shoot in Archway that left two dead and one seriously injured.
• Jurors had heard prosecutors say Lorik Lupqi and Jason Furtado planned the attack and recruited Abel Chunda, Xavier Poponne and Eden Clark; all five were found guilty of double murder and attempted murder.
• Lupqi, 22, told Judge Anuja Dhir KC to "Suck your mother" when invited to offer mitigation, prompting a warning he could be removed from court.
• Lupqi was double-handcuffed in the dock over fears of further violence after he previously attacked co-accused Chunda during the trial, drawing blood across the dock.
• The victims’ mothers delivered impact statements condemning the defendants’ smirking and absence of remorse, describing 15-year-old Leo Reid and 23-year-old Klevi Shekaj as kind, bright young men whose loss shattered their families.