A jury has been discharged in the trial of five co-accused over a stabbing murder in Sydney’s southwest after the victim was seen with “wads of cash” on a Tinder date.
Bilal Rahim, Joseph Nehme, Viliami Taufahema, Sherene Rizk and Lisa Anne Price were facing a NSW Supreme Court trial over the death of Luke Lembryk in the early hours of December 7, 2019, at the unit he shared with his mother in Condell Park.
Jurors were sent home on Friday after a High Court decision on a South Australian case, handed down two days earlier, radically changed national law regarding joint criminal enterprise and constructive murder.
“I think it is very difficult to resist a reading of (the judgment) to the effect that the combination of extended joint criminal enterprise at common law and constructive murder has been abolished, not just in South Australia, but throughout Australia, for all purposes,” Justice Richard Button wrote.
Prosecution case evaporates
If the trial were to continue, the only basis for which crown prosecutors had run their case against the five co-accused no longer existed in Australia, the judge said.
In its decision, the High Court overturned convictions for Ben Mitchell, Alfred Rigney, Matt Tenhoopen and Aaron Carver.
The four men had previously been found guilty of the bashing murder of Albanian refugee Urim Gjabri while stealing cannabis at his Adelaide premises.
In the NSW Supreme Court case, which began on February 28, Rahim, Nehme, Taufahema and Price pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, while Rizk fought a charge of being an accessory before the fact.
Mr Lembryk was pronounced dead at the scene about 2.45am on December 7, having suffered stab wounds to his heart, arm, leg and finger.
Rahim, Nehme and Taufahema allegedly went to the unit to do the “Condell Park job”, with “specific guidance” to find the residence given via telephone by Price, who had previously been there and saw wads of cash, after initially connecting with Mr Lembryk via Tinder.
-AAP
