A shocking fatal shooting case in Melbourne’s north has moved into the critical pre-sentencing phase, with the Victorian Supreme Court hearing detailed accounts of how a petty dispute escalated into a deadly public attack that left a beloved community member dead.
Abdurhman Jemal, a 33-year-old family man widely remembered for his kindness and community spirit, was gunned down in the early hours of March 29, 2024, outside a shopping strip on Justin Avenue in the suburb of Glenroy. The two accused — father-and-son pair Luke James Picking, 42, and his son Brodi Picking, 20 — appeared before the court on Monday for ongoing pre-sentence submissions.
Following a jury trial held in late 2024, Luke Picking was found guilty of Jemal’s murder, while Brodi Picking was acquitted of the murder charge but convicted of manslaughter. Court documents outline that the conflict traces back two weeks before the shooting, when Brodi, who had only just turned 18 at the time, accused Jemal of stealing his wallet during a gathering at a shared friend’s home. Tensions boiled over during a chance encounter at a local Bunnings Warehouse around 8:40 p.m. on March 28, when the two men clashed before parting ways.
Six hours after that confrontation, closed-circuit television footage captured Luke Picking meeting his son and retrieving a loaded shotgun from the bonnet of his vehicle. Crown prosecutor Patrick Bourke KC told the court that just one hour after that meeting, at 3:30 a.m., the pair actively sought out Jemal and located him outside the Glenroy shopping strip. “You want to be a sick c–t, hey,” Luke Picking shouted from his vehicle before firing a shot that struck Jemal in the neck, killing him almost immediately.
During the earlier trial, Luke Picking insisted he never had the intention to kill anyone, while Brodi Picking maintained he had no knowledge that the firearm his father brought was loaded. In sentencing submissions on Monday, Brodi’s barrister Rishi Nathwani KC argued that aligned with the jury’s manslaughter verdict, his client only agreed to confront Jemal with the loaded gun to scare him, not to cause harm. Nathwani further noted that Luke Picking had already been carrying the firearm for reasons completely unconnected to the Bunnings argument, and only learned of the confrontation after meeting up with his son. “Had his father not brought a gun … The plan would never have been to scare with a loaded gun,” Nathwani told the court, adding that Justice should consider Brodi’s disadvantaged background when determining his sentence.
Bourke pushed back on that framing, pointing out that multiple hours passed between the Bunnings clash and the fatal shooting, meaning the attack “cannot be said to be an impulsive decision.” In a particularly startling revelation, Bourke also told the court that just one week after Jemal’s death, Brodi Picking traveled to the home of Jemal’s widow to deny any involvement in the killing, even offering fake comfort to the grieving family.
As the court heard victim impact statements from Jemal’s family, they painted a portrait of a man who was deeply loving, protective, and devoted to rebuilding his family unit in Australia. Jemal’s sister told the court he was widely known across their community for his consistent kindness and work as a mentor to younger community members, adding that “His greatest dream was to work hard, support our parents and reunite our family here in Australia.”
Jemal’s brother described the irreversible harm the killing has inflicted on their entire family, telling the court “He was hopeful for the future, he had hope for a better future and plans and dreams … they were taken away by selfish actions outside of his control. I live with the weight of his absence every single day.”
Luke Picking, who has announced he plans to appeal his murder conviction and now intends to represent himself in court proceedings, was unprepared to proceed with sentencing submissions on Monday. The court has adjourned his part of the hearing to early September, while submissions for Brodi Picking’s sentencing continue.