Hitman ‘will die in jail’ over gangland murders

A HITMAN has been told he will die behind bars for the murders of a gangland “Mr Big” and a mob enforcer.

Mark Fellows, 38, nicknamed The Iceman, murdered Salford mobster Paul Massey with an Uzi machine gun outside his home in the city in July 2015.

Father-of-five Massey, 55, a notorious “Mr Big” crime figure in Salford and beyond, was blasted at 18 times, hit five times and died on his doorstep.

Three years later, Massey’s friend and gang associate, John Kinsella, 53, a martial arts expert and mob enforcer from Liverpool, was murdered by Fellows in a second “cold-blooded” execution.

He was walking his dogs with his pregnant partner, Wendy Owen, near their home in Rainhill, Merseyside, on May 5 last year.

Fellows cycled up, shooting his victim twice in the back with a Webley six-shot revolver before standing over him to fire twice more into the back of his head from close range.

Fellows was convicted of both murders on Wednesday following an eight week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Yesterday he was sentenced to a whole-life term by Mr Justice William Davis.

Fellows’ co-accused Steven Boyle, 36, who acted as “spotter” in the Kinsella murder was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years before parole is considered.

Passing sentence yesterday, Mr Justice Davis said: “Whatever the background of Mr Kinsella and Mr Massey, the impact on their families of their murders have been devastating. This was execution, pure and simple.”

Both victims, “notorious” heavy criminals in gangland Manchester and Merseyside, were murdered as a result of a deadly feud between rival gangs in Salford - the A-Team - linked to the victims and a splinter faction the defendants were with.

The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigation into the Massey murder had stalled, until new evidence was uncovered by Merseyside Police during the Kinsella investigation, three years later.

Detectives had a “lightbulb moment” when they raided Fellows’ home, seizing his Garmin Forerunner watch. It showed a few months before the murder of Paul Massey, the wearer had travelled a route from his home to the area behind the church in which the killer lay in wait for his victim on July, 26, 2015.