Five jailed for life after killing teen and man after music video shoot

Five men have been jailed for life for murdering a teenager and a man who were taking part in a shoot for a music video in north London.

Lorik Lupqi, 21, Jason Furtado, 28, Abel Chunda, 29, Xavier Poponne, 22, and Eden Clark, 31, had denied murdering 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and 23-year-old Klevi Shekaj as well as the attempted murder of Abdullah Abdullahi, who was badly injured.

They were found guilty after a jury spent 53 hours and five minutes deliberating at the Old Bailey in July. Today they were all jailed for life. 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 for murder. All five were each given 25 years for the attempted murder charge.

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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 they 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: “Suck your mum…When I come out I’m going to kill you.”

During the trial, prosecutor Jacob Hallam KC described how a large group had gathered on the Elthorne Estate in Archway to record a music video for an artist called Tight Road Baby. The atmosphere was said to be happy although the volume had irritated some of the local residents and police had attended at about 10.20pm.

The crowd eventually dispersed leaving a number of youths in the area. Lupqi and Furtado allegedly called on the attack and enlisted Chunda, Clark and Poponne to help. Lupqi booked a taxi to pick up the three men from the area of Furtado’s home address in Canonbury, north London, telling the firm: “I’m in a little bit of a rush.”

They donned masks and were armed as they travelled to the estate where they met Lupqi, the court was told. Leonardo and his brother had been watching the music video being filmed with friends.

The alarm was raised as a black-clad figure wearing a balaclava was spotted crouching down and moving towards them with a large knife. The friend shouted the warning “Man on!” as three more males in black stood up from where they had been hiding behind cars, the court was told.

Leonardo’s brother ran away but later looped back and saw someone lying motionless on the ground. It was only then that 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 had been stabbed in the back, with the wound cutting through his left lung and deep into his body. He was driven to Whittington Hospital by members of the public but he died on arrival. Mr Abdullahi said he had walked past the scene of the recording earlier that night but did not pay much attention.

He described to police being attacked by three of four people wearing face coverings when he returned to the area. He ran away but he slipped and fell and was set upon by three attackers who had chased him with machetes, jurors heard.

As he tried to get up, he was struck with a machete twice to the right side of his body, to the head and right knee. Mr Hallam said: “He thought he was going to die. He cannot say how long the attack lasted. He then heard one of the group say, ‘leave him’.”

Mr Abdullahi struggled home and collapsed outside his front door. He had suffered two stab wounds to the right side of the abdomen, a punctured lung, two broken ribs and a fractured diaphragm, as well as stab wounds to his head and knee.

After the “murderous” attack, a taxi took Chunda, Poponne, Clark and Lupqi away from the scene to Chunda’s home address. Jurors were told of lyrics recovered from Islington resident Poppone’s phones in which he allegedly “glorified” the killings and bragged he “got me a trio”.

The court heard Furtado and Lupqi were wearing electronic tags at the time of the attack. Four of the defendants were picked up by police on dates between July 2023 and May 2024. Lupqi, from Archway, cut off his tag and fled to Kosovo. He was extradited back to the UK last November 12 when he too was arrested.

The trial was halted midway through after Lupqi attacked Chunda, of Highgate Hill, spraying the dock with blood which had to be deep cleaned before the court could reassemble.

Earlier, the murder victims’ mothers had criticised the defendants for their lack of remorse, “smirking” during their trial and treating it like a “game”.

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 adrenaline 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.”

Detective Inspector Jim Barry, from Scotland Yard, said “These violent men went into this estate with the intention of killing anyone they could, under the false impression that those there were rival gang members. This was a senseless, violent act which has shattered the lives of so many, especially Leonardo and Klevi’s loved ones.

“This dangerous group of men will now spend a long time behind bars but the effect of what they did will be felt by the victim’s shattered families for longer. I thank the members of the public who tried to help and save the lives of those injured and have assisted our team with inquiries.”