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Gangland hitman known as ‘The Iceman’ jailed for life for murders of ‘Mr Big’ and mob enforcer

<em>Hitman Mark Fellows has been jailed for life for gangland killings (PA)</em>
Hitman Mark Fellows has been jailed for life for gangland killings (PA)

A hitman who murdered a gangland ‘Mr Big’ and a mob enforcer has been told he will die behind bars.

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.

Kinsella, whose help footballer Steven Gerrard called on to scare off a Liverpool gangster known as The Psycho who had been ‘terrorising’ him, 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.

<em>Steven Boyle was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years (PA)</em>
Steven Boyle was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years (PA)

Fellows was convicted of both murders on Wednesday following an eight-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

On Thursday he was sentenced to a whole-life term by Mr Justice William Davis.

Fellows’ co-accused and ‘brother in arms’ Steven Boyle, 36, who acted as ‘spotter’ in the Kinsella murder to ensure the planned victims were in place and to act as back-up, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years before parole is considered.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Davis said: ‘Whatever the background of Mr Kinsella and Mr Massey, the impact on their families of their murders have been devastating.

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‘This was execution, pure and simple.’

Both men were cleared of the attempted murder of Wendy Owen, who flew at the gunman before retreating as she came under fire.

Before he was led away, Fellows shouted from the dock: ‘I didn’t shoot at Wendy Owen. She’s lying.’

A member of Kinsella’s family, believed to be one of his sisters, screamed from the public gallery: ‘Rat! Rat!’ before the judge asked her to leave court.

<em>Gang associate John Kinsella helped footballer Steven Gerrard (pictured) to scare off a Liverpool gangster (Getty)</em>
Gang associate John Kinsella helped footballer Steven Gerrard (pictured) to scare off a Liverpool gangster (Getty)

The judge described Fellows as a contract killer, a ‘gun for hire, prepared to kill whoever you were asked to kill’.

He added: ‘I have never had to deal with a contract killer of your kind before. There are few judges who have. Just punishment in your case requires you to be kept in prison for the rest of your life.’

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.

Their killers, said to be wholesale cocaine dealers and themselves heavy criminals with past convictions for armed robbery, ammunition possession and drugs offences, denied the charges.

Fellows made a cut-throat gesture and mouthed the word ‘Grass’ to his boyhood friend and co-accused as he sat in the dock when Boyle sprang a surprise ambush defence.

<em>Fellows and Boyle were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court (Wikipedia)</em>
Fellows and Boyle were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court (Wikipedia)

Father-of-two Boyle, in the witness box, blamed his co-accused, claiming he had gone to Rainhill to pick up drug money from Fellows who instead handed over a gun – used moments earlier to murder Kinsella.

Fellows used a bicycle on both murder missions, to avoid ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras and the two communicated only through £3,000 specially encrypted EncroChat phones, which police have been unable to crack.

But detectives were able to piece together thousands of hours of CCTV evidence and other phone analysis to put both men close to the scene of both murders and during earlier reconnaissance trips on their prey.

Both defendants suggested it was all a matter of simple co-incidence they were nearby at the time of both murders.