Two men convicted of the premeditated murder of David Clarke will serve at least 25 years behind bars before becoming eligible for parole.

Darrion Simons, 21, and Jahkeo LeShore, 32, both received life sentences yesterday for the 2011 killing, along with ten-year sentences for using a firearm to commit the act.

While the time already served by LeShore will go towards his sentence, the same is not true for Simons who is already serving a ten-year sentence for handling a firearm in an unrelated incident which occurred months after Mr Clarke’s murder.

As a result, Simmons sentence officially began yesterday.

During their trial, the court had heard that Mr Clarke was shot dead near the junction of North Shore Road and Bandroom Lane on the evening of April 17, 2011.

Witnesses testified that Mr Clarke was shot off his bike by two men, who pulled up along side him on a second motorcycle and opened fire. Mr Clarke was struck by two bullets, one which passed through his arm and a second which struck his head.

Prosecutor Susan Mulligan described the shooting as an execution which occurred in a public place, terrifying witnesses and devastating both the victim’s family and the community as a whole.

“It was especially serious because it required planning and premeditation and it was the revenge killing of an innocent man,” Ms Mulligan said.

She told the court that both defendants were deeply entrenched in the gang lifestyle and had targeted Mr Clarke to avenge the murder of LeShore’s brother Jahmiko, who was shot dead six weeks earlier.

Mr Clarke was not believed to be involved in Jahmiko’s murder or a member of any gang, but the court heard his brother D’Angelo Clarke was a member of a rival gang.

“Even the death of LeShore’s brother and Simons’ friend didn’t convince them to change their path,” she said. “Instead they sought revenge by killing a man who both said they knew and liked because his brother was a rival gang member.”

During their Supreme Court trial, the court heard that LeShore and Simons had seen Mr Clarke earlier that evening at the Mid-Atlantic Boat Club.

They allegedly left the club before the victim and laid in wait on a side road until they saw him ride past on his way home.

Following the shooting, the men raced up Mission Lane, abandoning the motorcycle before running to Simons’ home.

Police later recovered the abandoned motorcycle, which was found to contain LeShore’s DNA, while a set of Simons’ keys were found by a wall which the suspects were believed to have jumped down while making their escape.

During the trial the jury was shown a series of BlackBerry messages from LeShore’s phone, in which he wrote that the only thing that would make him feeling better would be “killing one or two of them personally”.

Both defendants maintained their innocence throughout the trial, claiming they were at their respective homes when the murders occurred and had no issues at all with the victim.

However a jury found the men guilty of premeditated murder by a majority verdict. They have since both launched appeals against their convictions.

During their sentencing hearing yesterday, Ms Mulligan called for both defendants to serve at least 25 years of a life sentence before becoming eligible for parole — the maximum penalty allowed by Bermuda law for premeditated murder — but noted that Simons was already serving a ten year sentence, of which he is required to serve five years.

Ms Mulligan said the 25-year minimum term for the current case should only begin once the minimum sentence for the previous offence is served arguing that the new sentence would otherwise strike out the previous sentence.

However Larry Mussenden, representing Simons, argued that such a sentence would not be proportional given his client’s young age. He said the proposed sentence would result in a minimum 30-year sentence, leaving Simons ineligible for parole until he was 48-years-old.

Ms Mulligan subsequently suggested that the court could require that Simons sentence not include time already served to ensure he receives some punishment for the separate firearms offence.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons did just that in her sentence, telling Simons that he should be given the opportunity to redeem himself.

Charles Richardson, representing LeShore, said his client maintains his innocence and rejects the facts presented by the Crown, noting the forthcoming appeal.

Neither of the defendants spoke on their own behalf during the hearing.

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