Sivakumar and Sachchithananthan were found guilty of murder

Suresh Kumar Selvarajah was shot in the chest in April last year after a group of Sri Lankan men armed with baseball bats, sticks and guns swooped on a house in Wembley.

The 27-year-old was not the intended victim as the gang had wanted to see a friend of his brother-in-law Pratheepan Paramalingham.

But Mr Selvarajah was shot and died minutes later.

Ragulaperuman Sachchithananthan, 27, from Alperton, north-west London, and Nagarisa Sivakumar, 33, from Wembley, were convicted of murder on 30 July this year.

Today's sentences send a clear message to those who participate in violent crime that they will be caught and prosecuted for their crimes Detective Chief Inspector Richard Freeman A spiral of violence

Three other men were also sentenced at the Old Bailey in London on Friday for attempted murder and violent disorder.

Thrirojan Kanaganayanagam, 26, from Wembley, was found guilty of conspiracy to cause violent disorder and the attempted murder of Mr Paramalingham. He was jailed for 16 years.

Vijayatharan Kumaraval, 31, from Colindale, north-west London, was sentenced to four years and Stanislas Krishnapillai, 36, of Wembley, was jailed for 12 years for conspiracy to cause violent disorder.

It is not known what was the exact nature of the slight which triggered the mayhem that led to Mr Selvarajah's death.

Four days before his murder, Mr Paramalingham was abducted in Harlesden in north-west London, taken to a house in Wembley, beaten and eventually released.

Suresh Selvarajah was the unintended victim

Then on 22 April last year Mr Paramalingham's car was chased through the streets of Wembley and shots were fired at it.

Later that evening the gang turned up on the doorstep of the house where Mr Selvarajah was.

After the sentencing Detective Chief Inspector Richard Freeman, the officer leading the investigation into the death of Mr Selvarajah, said the murder had been vicious and unprovoked.

"Today's sentences send a clear message to those who participate in violent crime that they will be caught and prosecuted for their crimes," he said.

"I would like to thank the victim's family and the wider Sri Lankan community, for their support during the investigation and would encourage them to continue this support, to assist the Metropolitan Police Service to identify and arrest those who seek to commit these violent offences."