Arion Kurtaj is due for a November 9 trial in the 2022 hacking case, defence chambers says

Red Lion Chambers says Arion Kurtaj is due to stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court on November 9, 2026, after being assessed as fit to plead. The statement concerns the prosecution linked to the 2022 hacking attacks, including the release of early GTA 6 footage. It does not connect him to the separate CyberLeek material circulating this month.

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What the defence chambers has announced

The public post names Trevor Archer and Andrew Herd as the barristers defending Kurtaj. It says he has been assessed as fit to plead following treatment and is due to stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court on November 9 for offences alleged to have been committed when he was a child. The chambers is directly involved in the defence, but its post should still be identified as the source of the timetable rather than described as a court listing.

Why the 2023 proceedings need careful wording

The official appeal judgment states that Kurtaj was charged with twelve offences relating to computer hacking and found unfit to plead. A jury then considered the relevant acts and omission under section 4A of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964. The judgment records a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, with a section 41 restriction order. Describing that outcome simply as a prison sentence or a conventional guilty verdict would erase the legal distinction.

The 2025 appeal did not overturn the findings

At paragraph 64, the Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal on one ground but dismissed the appeal against the jury's findings. The court's discussion of evidential errors therefore did not result in those findings being set aside. That is background to the current report, not a fresh ruling or a judgment about the outcome of the scheduled trial.

Separate this case from current leak rumours

The GTA connection in the reviewed court material concerns the September 2022 attack on Rockstar. Recent reports about a person using the CyberLeek name concern a different evidential trail. Neither the chambers' statement nor the 2025 judgment identifies the operator behind the current material. The November court date should not be used to imply such a connection or to predict further disclosures.

What the timing does and does not mean

November 9 falls ten days before GTA 6's currently announced November 19 release date. That proximity is a calendar fact, not evidence that the court timetable was selected around the game or that the release is affected. The accompanying image reproduces the chambers' statement as shown by iGrandTheftAuto; the two portraits are the named defence barristers, not photographs of Kurtaj.