A man accused of murdering an underworld “Mr Big” and a “mob fixer” has appeared in court in Merseyside with a heavy police presence.

Mark Fellows, 37, is accused of the gangland murders of Paul Massey, 55, from Salford, and John Kinsella from Liverpool.

He stood in the dock alongside four prison officers for the brief three-minute hearing at South Sefton magistrates court in Bootle.

Massey was shot several times as he stepped out of his car outside his home.

Kinsella died after being shot as he walked his dog early in the morning with his partner, Wendy Owen, on a footpath near the M62. The accused is also charged with the attempted murder of Owen, who was shot at as she fled the scene of Kinsella’s killing in Merseyside last month.

Fellows was arrested at Manchester airport on Wednesday after a series of police raids. He was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool crown court on 5 June.