Accused killer Jahkeo LeShore yesterday denied that police told his family that his brother’s murder was gang-related, as the trial against him continued.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr LeShore, 32, and Darrion Simons, 21, gunned down 26-year-old David Clarke to avenge the death of Jahmiko LeShore six weeks earlier as part of a series of tit-for-tat shootings involving the rival Parkside and 42 gangs.

Mr LeShore and Mr Simons have both denied charges of premeditated murder of Mr Clarke and using a firearm.

The court previously heard that Mr Clarke was fatally shot while riding his motorcycle near the entrance to Bandroom Lane on April 17, 2011. Earlier that evening, both he and the defendants were caught on CCTV cameras socialising at the Mid Atlantic Boat Club.

Prosecutor Susan Mulligan described the attack as an “execution”, stating that the killers laid in wait for Mr Clarke to ride past on his way home, pulled alongside him and opened fire before speeding onto Mission Lane. The prosecution has argued the killers abandoned the motorcycle used in the attack at a Crane Lane property, fleeing the area on foot.

Mr Simons previously told the court he left the club with a man named “Johnny” and was at home in bed when the shooting took place. Mr LeShore meanwhile said he left the club alone, riding to his mother’s house in Devonshire and, after seeing she was asleep, retired to his room.

As the trial continued yesterday, Mr LeShore said that while he could not independently recollect the time, he believed that a single motorcycle rider seen on CCTV leaving the club at around 9.17pm may have been him.

Mr LeShore meanwhile told the court that he was friendly with the victim, and had no idea that Mr Clarke’s brother was associated with Parkside.

And he reiterated that he never believed Parkside was responsible for the murder of his brother Jahmiko LeShore, who was gunned down six weeks before Mr Clarke’s murder.

Mr LeShore said he had been told by his mother that Chief Inspector Tyrone Pedro had informed the family that the murder of Jahmiko was connected to an altercation at a bar involving a man named Tristan, from the East End.

However, prosecutor Susan Mulligan suggested that at the meeting — which Mr LeShore did not himself attend — Chief Inspector Pedro had said the shooting was believed to be gang-related, noting that the man involved in the altercation was associated with Parkside members and a Parkside firearm had been used in the killing.

Mr LeShore said: “They didn’t tell our family. They didn’t tell us. My mother related the facts. There was nothing Parkside related.”

He also said he did not recall a press conference, held by police on March 5, 2011, to give the public information about Jahmiko’s murder, or knowing about the three men arrested by police the day after Jahmiko’s murder.

“I knew the day before they said they were charging a young man and we went to court the day they charged him,” he said. Even then, he said he had no idea that the man charged was associated with Parkside.

He reiterated that he was not a member of any gang, saying that he wouldn’t describe 42 as a gang or a crew but as a family. However, he admitted that while giving a police statement in connection to a firearm incident in 2007 he told police he was a member of the “42 crew”.

Mr LeShore was also questioned about his plans to leave the Island. The court had heard that the defendant had a ticket to leave the Island on April 16 — the day before Mr Clarke’s murder — but had been turned away at customs.

He told the court that his family had helped organise the ticket because they were concerned for his safety, but denied the suggestion they were concerned because he was a gang member.

“I’m labelled because I’m in that community,” he said. “My brother had passed. My mother wanted me to get off the Island. She wanted me off the Island even though she wasn’t doing good. That was her main concern.”