This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A gangland hitman has been sentenced to life in prison for the murders of the Salford criminal Paul Massey, known as “Mr Big”, and his associate John Kinsella.

Mark Fellows, 38, shot Massey in the chest with an Uzi submachine gun in July 2015 as part of a deadly feud between rival gangs. The attack was followed by a series of tit-for-tat repercussions.

During an eight-week trial at Liverpool crown court, which was guarded by heavily armed police officers, the jury heard Massey, 55, was fired at 18 times as he dived for cover behind bins outside his home in Salford. He died within minutes.

Three years later, Kinsella, 53, Massey’s friend and gang associate, was shot with a revolver while walking his dogs with his pregnant partner, Wendy Owen, on a secluded footpath near their home in Rainhill, Merseyside.

Fellows was convicted of both murders on Wednesday but found not guilty of the attempted murder of Owen. On Thursday, he was sentenced to a whole-life term by Mr Justice William Davis. Before he was led away, Fellows shouted from the dock: “I didn’t shoot at Wendy Owen. She’s lying.”

Steven Boyle, 36, who was described as Fellows’ “brother in arms”, was accused of acting as a spotter, ensuring the victims were in place and waiting nearby to provide backup.

He was found guilty of the murder of Kinsella, but cleared of the murder of Massey and the attempted murder of Owen. He was was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years before parole will be 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. This was execution, pure and simple.”

Massey, known as Mr Big despite being about 5ft 8in, was well known throughout Greater Manchester for criminal activities, particularly the sale of drugs during the 1990s rave scene. Massey is thought to have been a longstanding friend of Kinsella, who was a pallbearer at his Salford funeral.