A burglar responsible for stabbing a man and leaving him to die in the arms of his terminally ill mother will spend decades in prison.
Viliami Taufahema was sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday after a jury found him guilty of murdering Luke Lembryk, 29, during a botched home invasion in Sydney’s west in 2019.
Two accomplices, Bilal Rahim and Lisa Anne Price, involved in the armed robbery, were also jailed, while Joseph Nehme is still awaiting sentencing after also being found guilty of murder and assault with intent to rob.
The incident stemmed from a Tinder date between Price and Lembryk four months earlier, when the woman saw wads of cash and drugs on his property.
After Price told Nehme about the money and drugs and how to get into the house, he recruited Rahim to take Taufahema there and help him attempt the robbery.
Stabbed five times after refusing to hand over the money, Lembryk died in his mother’s arms.
He later died of cancer.
Judge Sarah McNaughton was unable to determine which of the two home invaders inflicted the fatal wound.
Luke Lembryk, 29 (pictured right) was killed during a botched home invasion in western Sydney in 2019.
But Taufahema clearly foresaw the possibility of inflicting serious bodily harm when he broke into the house late at night, he said, holding him responsible for the murder.
Judge McNaughton noted that Lembryk’s last words to a police officer were: “I’m dying, I’ve been stabbed.”
Taufahema was sentenced to 23 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 16 years and six months.
Price, who was found guilty of manslaughter, assault with intent to rob and aggravated burglary, received eight years in prison with a non-parole period of four years and six months.
Mr Lembryk was stabbed twice after refusing to hand over the cash to the intruders (pictured, police and emergency services at the scene after the incident).
One of the aggravated home invasion charges related to an assault on Lembryk’s mother during the home invasion.
After meeting Lembryk on a Tinder date four months before the attack, Price saw wads of cash worth between $10,000 and $20,000 at his home, along with a “golf ball” of cocaine.
She was desperate for money and was about to be evicted from her own home when she passed the information to Nehme, Judge McNaughton said.
Rahim, who drove Taufahema to work and acted as a lookout throughout the process, was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison, with a non-parole period of five years and two months.
The incident stemmed from a Tinder date between Lisa Anne Price (pictured) and Lembryk when the woman saw wads of cash and drugs on his property.
He was found guilty of manslaughter, assault with intent to rob and aggravated burglary.
Rahim showed an “unconditional and immediate” willingness to participate when Nehme asked him to, probably because of his drug addiction, Judge McNaughton said.
He discovered that Rahim would have anticipated possible resistance once inside the house and knew that Nehme was carrying a knife.
Lembryk’s father had previously told the court that there was no appropriate sentence that could right the wrong of his son’s death.
It was particularly heartbreaking that his terminally ill wife spent her final days mourning the 29-year-old man, he said.
Nehme’s sentencing submissions will be heard on Monday.
