A gang of machete-wielding men who carried out a double murder during an ambush on a music video shoot have been jailed for at least 189 years.
Leonardo Reid, 15, and Klevi Shekaj, 23, were killed when a group of men armed with large machetes ambushed them in Archway, Islington, on 29 June, 2023.
Abdullah Abdullahi, 28, was also left with serious injuries after being struck with a machete twice to the right side of his body, to the head and right knee.
Lorik Lupqi, 22, and Jason Furtado, 28, planned the attack and enlisted Abel Chunda, 29, Xavier Poponne, 22, and Eden Clark, 31, to carry it out.
On Friday, they were handed two life sentences for the murders and 25 years in jail for attempted murder, having been found guilty after a long-running Old Bailey trial.
Lupqi will spend at least 39 years in prison for what the judge called a “planned, brutal, murderous group attack,” while Furtado and Poponne received minimum terms of 37 years.
Chunda and Clark were given minimum terms of 38 years, making a total of 189 years for the group of five.
The court heard that Lupqi was the instigator of the violence, had lashed out in the dock, and was verbally abusive towards Judge Anjua Dhir KC.
One of the victim’s parents told the court that the group “smirked at us” throughout the trial.
The Metropolitan Police said after sentencing that on the day of the incident, Lupqi, from Islington, saw the gathering at around 8.30pm and took it as an opportunity to hurt those he “mistakenly” thought were gang opponents.
Lupqi then decided to contact his close friend Furtado, who both messaged the other gang members. They arrived at the scene two hours later, when filming had concluded.
Leonardo and Klevi were in the area, along with many other local children and teenagers. The group then fatally stabbed the 15-year-old, who died at the scene, and the 23-year-old, who died in hospital.
After the attack, a taxi took Chunda, Poponne, Clark and Lupqi away from the scene to Chunda’s home address in Highgate Hill.
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Clarke then travelled to Suffolk and changed his appearance to avoid arrest, while Lupqi illegally travelled to Kosovo days after the murders.
Officers said that Chuna and Furtado were arrested on 3 July, Clarke was detained on 12 July, and Lupqi was extradited back to the UK and arrested at Luton Airport on 12 November.
After Poponne was detained in November 2023, lyrics were found in a drill song written the day after the murders, which the Met Police said “made references to elements of the attack which could only be known to those involved”.
All five men were convicted on 23 July.
Judge condemns ‘complete lack of respect’
With the exception of Poponne, Judge Dhir told the defendants, “your behaviour during this trial has been appalling with constant outbursts in court, fights in the dock, disruptive behaviour in the cells in this building and difficult behaviour coming to and leaving this court”.
She added Lupqi had been “by far the worst”, adding they had shown “a complete lack of respect for the court process and the families of your victims”.
As Lupqi was being sent down in handcuffs, he swore and told Judge Dhir: “Suck your mum… When I come out I’m going to kill you.”
‘They smirked at us,’ victim’s mum tells court
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Leonardo’s mother Valentina Locci said: “My past, present and future have been crushed and taken, not only from me but my family, his siblings and all of our loved ones and friends, and for what?”
Mr Shekaj’s mother, Valbona Shekaj, said in her statement: “Instead of showing remorse or asking for forgiveness, they smirked at us from the defendant’s box.
“They played with our pain, and treated this entire trial as a game, as if the life they took and the devastation they caused meant nothing.”
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Met Police: Group ‘deserves to be in prison’
Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Jim Barry of Specialist Crime North said that the sentencing “brings a lengthy and emotional investigation to conclusion,” and noted that the victims “had no previous involvement with this group and their lives were taken after being mistaken for rival gang members”.
On the gang, he added: “Whether they were carrying the knife used or cowardly tried to cover the rest of the group’s actions, every man here played a part and deserves to be in prison for a long time.”
Poponne was also given a concurrent sentence for possession with intent to supply, possession of a bladed article and possession of a class B drug. He admitted to the charges at a previous hearing.
