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Breaking News
‘Smirking’ men jailed for life over double murder
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“Smirking” killers who ran amok at a music video shoot, fatally stabbing two young people and severely injuring a third, have been handed life sentences.
Leonardo Reid, 15, and Klevi Shekaj, 23, were killed and 28-year-old Abdullah Abdullahi was badly hurt when a group of men armed with machetes ambushed the event in Archway, north London, on the night of 29 June 2023.
Lorik Lupqi, 22, and Jason Furtado, 28, had planned the attack and enlisted Abel Chunda, 29, Xavier Poponne, 22, and Eden Clark, 31, to help 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 trial.
At the Old Bailey, Judge Anjua Dhir KC told Lupqi he would spend at least 39 years in prison for the “planned, brutal, murderous group attack”.
Furtado and Poponne received minimum terms of 37 years and Chunda and and Clark were given minimum terms of 38 years.
Lupqi, the instigator of the violence, lashed out in the dock and was verbally abusive towards Judge Dhir.
Judge Dhir told the defendants: “With the exception of Xavier Poponne, 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 said Lupqi had been “by far the worst”, adding that the defendants had shown “a complete lack of respect for the court process and the families of your victims”.
“However, I am sentencing you for offences and not for your conduct in court,” the judge said.
As Lupqi was being sent down in handcuffs, he swore and told Judge Dhir: “When I come out I’m going to kill you.”
All but Poponne had previous convictions, with a combined total of 201 offences, including for drugs and possession of weapons. Chunda alone had 97 convictions.
Earlier, the murder victims’ mothers had criticised the defendants for their lack of remorse, “smirking” during their trial and treating it like a “game”.
‘Played with our pain’
Leonardo’s mother, Valentina Locci, said: “My past, present and future has been crushed and taken, not only from me but my family, his siblings and all of our loved ones and friends, and for what?
“An adrenalin rush, an ego boost, a full sense of worth, a selfish gratification with no rewards, at cost to others. What I lost, what we have lost, cannot be found nor replaced.”
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.”
The trial had heard how violence erupted after a large group gathered on the Elthorne Estate to record a music video for an artist called Tight Road Baby.
Lupqi had heard that members of a rival gang might be there and called for the attack with the help of Furtado who enlisted Chunda, Clark and Poponne.
Lupqi booked a taxi to pick up the three men from near where Furtado lived in Canonbury, north London.
They wore masks and were armed with machetes as they travelled to the Elthorne Estate where they met Lupqi.
Leonardo and his brother had been watching the music video being filmed with friends.
They scattered after one of their number spotted a black-clad figure wearing a balaclava crouching down and moving towards them with a large knife.
Leonardo’s brother looped back later and saw someone lying motionless on the ground. It was only then he realised it was his brother.
Leonardo had been stabbed in the chest, the wound cutting through his left lung and one of the major blood vessels in his body, causing fatal blood loss.
Mr Shekaj was stabbed in the back, with the wound cutting through his left lung and deep into his body. He died on arrival at hospital.
‘Got me a trio’
Mr Abdullahi was chased and struck with a machete twice to the right side of his body, to the head and right knee.
Judge Dhir said he was “terrified” when he came to court to give evidence in the trial.
After the attack, the taxi took Chunda, Poponne, Clark and Lupqi away from the scene to Chunda’s home in Highgate Hill.
Jurors were told of lyrics recovered from Islington resident Poppone’s phones in which he glorified the killings and bragged he “got me a trio”.
Furtado and Lupqi were wearing electronic tags at the time of the attack.
Lupqi, from Archway, cut off his tag and fled to Kosovo, but was extradited back to the UK.
On Friday, Poponne was handed additional concurrent sentences for dealing in class A drugs and carrying knives, offences he admitted.
Breaking News
Ex-Reform politician admits Russia-linked bribery charges
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The former leader of Reform UK in Wales has pleaded guilty to bribery charges relating to making statements in favour of Russia while being an elected member of the European Parliament.
Nathan Gill, 52, from Llangefni on Anglesey, admitted eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019, but denied one charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.
It was alleged he made statements in the European Parliament which were “supportive of a particular narrative” which would “benefit Russia regarding events in Ukraine”.
Gill will be sentenced in November and his defence barrister said he expected jail.
The charges stated that Gill, as an elected member of the European Parliament for the constituency of Wales in the UK, “agreed to receive financial advantage, namely money”, which constituted “the improper performance” as the holder of an elected office.
He also made these statements in opinion pieces to news outlets, such as 112 Ukraine.
The court was told he was tasked by Ukrainian Oleg Voloshyn on at least eight occasions to make specific statements in return for money and there was evidence of WhatsApp messages between the two men.
Mr Voloshyn is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament for the pro-Russian Opposition Platform for Life party.
The conspiracy to commit bribery alleged Gill conspired with Mr Voloshyn and “others” between 1 January 2018 and 1 February 2020, and that he accepted “quantities of money in cash” which was “improper performance by him of his function or activity as the holder” of a position in the European Parliament.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood said the guilty pleas were “satisfactory” because the bribery charges reflected the criminal activities, and agreed to lie the conspiracy charge on file.
They emerged after Gill was stopped at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021 under the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.
Peter Wright, speaking for Gill, told, the court: “It is recognised that it is inevitable that the defendant will receive an immediate sentencing to prison.”
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the court: “This is a serious matter.”
She said Nathan Gill had “admitted having ask questions, make statements and carried out other activity in support of pro-Russian parties in the European Parliament” where he was paid to do so.
Nathan Gill served as a UKIP and Brexit Party MEP between 2014 and 2020, and was leader of UKIP Wales between 2014 and 2016.
He then served leader of Reform UK Wales between March and May 2021, leading the party’s Senedd/Welsh Parliament election campaign.
However he is no longer a member of the party.
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