Convicted murderer Vernon Simons was yesterday handed an eight-year sentence in Supreme Court for the $450,000 drugs plot that led him to kill Matthew Clarke.

Simons, 24, is already serving a life sentence for the murder, along with his accomplices Shannon Tucker, 33, and Kyle Sousa, 18.

Puisne Judge Charles Etta Simmons handed down the sentence, which will run concurrent to the life sentence.

Tucker, who was also involved in the drug plot, was given an identical sentence last week.

The Clarke murder trial heard in April how construction company boss Tucker and his employee Simons blamed Mr. Clarke for allegedly framing them over approximately 18 pounds (8,176 grams) of cannabis and 584 ecstasy tablets discovered by the authorities in a shipment of machine parts for Tucker's business.

The trio bludgeoned the father-of-two over the head with a metal pole and stabbed him 26 times before leaving him dead in bed in April 2008. Prosecutors told the jury the murder stemmed from the fact that the drug importation plot was busted three months earlier.

Tucker and Simons were said to have blamed 31-year-old Mr. Clarke for them being caught out, and roped in Sousa to help kill him.