A murderer who launched a savage and frenzied knife attack on a Royal Bermuda Regiment sergeant in his home has been jailed for life.

Kenneth Leverock, who stands 6ft 5ins tall and weighs 280lbs, set upon Dejion Stange-Simmons with a blade shortly after arriving at his Southampton residence in November 2015.

Yesterday, Leverock was told he would serve a minimum of 12 years behind bars before he could even be considered for release on parole by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.

Leverock’s sentence came at the end of a long day of high drama in the Supreme Court during which gang member Romano Mills was jailed for life for the Belvin’s double murder and Kethyio Whitehurst was found guilty of the manslaughter of Travis Lowe, who died after a high-speed motorcycle chase.

Prosecutor Cindy Clarke told the court that Leverock and Mr Stange-Simmons, who were 25 and 26 respectively at the time of the killing, had started talking on Facebook in January 2013.

Ms Clarke said: “Forensic analysis of the victim’s and Leverock’s mobile phone have revealed that they both had each other in their contacts listing.

“The analysis also revealed that the two of them had been conversing with each other as far back as 2013. These conversations became more intimate and personal in 2015 when they spoke of having sexual encounters.”

Ms Clarke read out two online conversations between the two men from October 2015. The exchange from October 31, 2015 showed that Mr Stange-Simmons wanted to meet Leverock, but he responded by saying “U like ya life” and “Ya goin to have problem”.

The next day Mr Stange-Simmons sent a further message saying: “Unless you want me to share pics, video n convos with ppl my advice to you is to keep other ppl out of our business.”

Leverock’s lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher, said that during their initial online exchanges, Mr Stange-Simmons presented himself as a woman, but by September 2015 her client knew he was a man.

She said Leverock had remained in touch with Mr Stange-Simmons and had even visited his house on one previous occasion before the murder for “friendship, alcohol and cannabis”.

On the evening of November 26, 2015 Leverock went to Mr Stange-Simmons Sentinel Drive home in Southampton and at some time between 9pm and 9.30pm killed him.

Mystery surrounds exactly what transpired in the house during the meeting because Leverock never told police what happened, but officers discovered Mr Stange-Simmons’ lifeless body while executing an unrelated search warrant on the property at 9.30pm.

The next morning Leverock, his mother and his lawyer attended Hamilton Police Station in relation to a “serious incident that happened last night”.

Leverock was arrested on suspicion of murder, his mobile phone and his clothing were seized and he was medically examined. He was interviewed by police but remained mute throughout and was later released.

Forensic tests later revealed Leverock’s DNA on swabs taken from Mr Stange-Simmons’ left and right hand fingers and nails. He was rearrested on February 24 but again refused to answer questions.

Leverock pleaded guilty to murder on June 28, this year and yesterday when asked if there was anything he wanted to say before sentencing simply said: “No”.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said: “In this case, regardless of their relationship or how it began, it evolved to a point where this defendant, knowing that the victim was indeed a man who had made advances of a sexual nature to him previously, according to his counsel, left his own home on the day of the killing and very shortly after arriving at the victim’s home viciously murdered him.

“He delivered to him at least 20 stab wounds to his neck and upper body, some as deep as 10cm to 20cm haemorrhaging his hyoid, cutting his jugular vein and severing an artery in his arm, leaving him to die.”

Ms Christopher described Leverock as “vulnerable” and maintained that he had mental health issues and learning difficulties.

She said he was “desperate for friendship” and that on the previous occasion her client had visited Mr Stange-Simmons’s home he had made advances towards Leverock, which her client had rebutted.

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