Trio guilty over man's Tinder date drug ripoff death

Three people involved in a bungled drug robbery have been found guilty over the brutal stabbing of a man during the deadly incident.

Luke Lembryk unwittingly set his fate in motion during a Tinder date with Lisa Anne Price and another woman in August 2019.

Four months later he was stabbed to death in his Sydney home.

Price and three others, Bilal Rahim, Viliami Taufahema and Sherene Rizk, faced a joint trial in the NSW Supreme Court over six weeks in November and December last year.

She told a friend about a stash of drugs and money at Mr Lembryk's house before the man contacted his associates Rahim and Taufahema.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged the members of the group were part of the same joint criminal enterprise and each of them foresaw the robbery could lead to grievous bodily harm.

Price and Rizk allegedly planned the attack, while Rahim, Taufahema and the third man, who faces a later trial over the incident, attended Mr Lembryk's home to steal cocaine and cash, the jury heard.

Defence lawyers told the court at trial that while there had been planning for a "drug ripoff", no one had contemplated wounding or murdering Mr Lembryk.

Mr Lembryk's mother Robyn Bradley, who has since died due to a terminal illness, was pushed over by Taufahema while the trio were fleeing the home

After eight days of deliberations, jurors delivered their verdicts on December 21, finding only Taufahema guilty of murder.

Price and Rahim were found not guilty of murder but were found guilty of manslaughter as well as assault with an intent to rob in company.

Rahim has already pleaded guilty to two further charges of aggravated breaking and entering, one of which relates to Ms Bradley's assault.

The jury found Price guilty of the same additional charges.

Jurors handed down not guilty verdicts for two charges of murder and assault with intent to rob in company against Rizk.

Price, Rahim and Taufahema will face a two-day sentencing hearing before Justice Sarah McNaughton starting on April 18.

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