The ‘Ice Man’ hitman who shot dead two gangsters yelled ‘it’s your f***ing fault you f***ing grass’ at his murder accomplice after they were convicted today.
Mark Fellows, 38, smirked as he was found guilty of the murders of Salford’s ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey and his mob enforcer, John Kinsella, at Liverpool Crown Court.
The keen runner, whose GPS watch placed him at the scene of Massey’s murder, was cleared of the attempted murder of Kinsella’s partner, Wendy Owen.
His ‘spotter’ Steven Boyle, 36, was found guilty of the murder of Kinsella but found not guilty of Massey’s murder and not guilty of the attempted murder of Ms Owen.
Both men face life in jail and as Fellows was led out of the dock he turned on his former ‘brother in arms’ Boyle: ‘It’s your f***ing fault you f***ing grass’.
Paul ‘Mr Big’ Massey, who was shot dead in Salford in 2015, was Manchester’s richest and most famous gangster who once ran for mayor before he was gunned down in an Uzi attack as he stepped out of his silver BMW.
Notorious thug John Kinsella, 53, a gangland ‘fixer’, was a well-known criminal on Merseyside and once stepped in to help the former Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard when a fellow gangster was terrorising him.
Mark Fellows (left), 38, smirked as he was found guilty of the murders of Salford’s ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey and his mob enforcer, John Kinsella. His ‘brother in arms’ and ‘spotter’ Steven Boyle (right), 36, was found guilty of the murder of Kinsella but found not guilty of Massey’s murder
Fellow was caught when a fitness gadget he wore (pictured) placed him at the murder scene
John Kinsella (left), who helped footballer Steven Gerrard during a brush with gangsters, was murdered in May last year. ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey (right) was gunned down outside his home in 2015
Fellows was on a bike when he shot Kinsella dead as he walked his dog with his partner on a footpath near the M62 motorway outside St Helens on Merseyside at 7am, in May 2017.
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, said a whole-life term for Fellows, meaning he will die in jail, is required given the double murder, involving firearms and the substantial degree of planning.
Nick Johnson QC, defending Fellows, asked for ‘mercy’ as the defendant was a father of two who faced dying in jail.
The ‘starting point’ for consideration of Boyle’s sentence is 30 years, the court heard. Both will be sentenced at 9.30am tomorrow.
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 as he raised his hands in defence and dived for cover behind bins, a jury heard during a seven week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
After being shot five times, he died within minutes.
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.
Mark Fellows, 38, nicknamed The Iceman, murdered Salford mobster Paul Massey as he came back from the shops – his future victim John Kinsella helped carry the coffin at his funeral
Father-of-five Massey, 55, a notorious ‘Mr Big’ crime figure in Salford and beyond, was blasted at 18 times with an Uzi as he raised his hands in defence
Massey was considered a godfather figure in Salford and once stood to be mayor shortly before his murder
The police operation to move the killers to court from prison each day has involved road closures and police escorts
Armed Police guard the court during the gangster assassination trial
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.
As Kinsella lay dying, the killer stood over him to fire twice more into the back of his head from close range.
On both occasions his co-accused and ‘brother in arms’ Steven Boyle, 36, had allegedly acted as spotter to ensure the planned victims were in place and to act as back-up, waiting nearby, if needed, which he denied.
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.
Fellows was convicted of both murders but found not guilty of the attempted murder of Miss Owen.
Boyle was found guilty of the murder of Kinsella, but cleared of the murder of Massey and the attempted murder of Miss Owen.
Both defendants smiled as the jury foreman returned guilty verdicts, following 31 hours and three minutes of deliberations.
Relatives of the victims sat in the public gallery, holding hands and wiping away silent tears, as both men were convicted.
Fellows smiled and nodded as he was found guilty of both murders.
His co-accused Boyle dropped his head and also gave a wry smile as he was found guilty on one count of murder and cleared of the second.
Some relatives of the victims left the court in tears before court was adjourned.
Outside, police in combat gear carrying Heckler and Koch machine guns patrolled the corridors for the duration of the trial; both defendants had in a past hearing tried to burst out of a court building.
The defendants are facing mandatory life sentences for murder and will be sentenced by trial judge Mr Justice William Davis on Thursday morning.
Outside court, members of the Massey and Kinsella families shook hands and shared hugs with police detectives who had worked on the case.
Louise Lydiate, Massey’s partner and mother of two of his children, said: ‘Anyone who knows Paul would tell you he was a very generous, kind man who would do anything for anybody.
‘He was a grandfather of eight. All these Mr Big and things like that come from people who obviously don’t know him.
‘It’s been a long journey, very long journey. A sad journey, I just hope now we can move on in our lives as a family and get back to some normality.’
Asked how she felt about Fellows and Boyle, Ms Lydiate replied: ‘Just let them go to prison forever as far as I’m concerned.’