Ganglands murderer linked with Wigan shooting will "die behind bars"

Mark Fellows, 38, from Warrington, has been handed a mandatory life sentence for the murders of St Helens mob enforcer John Kinsella and Salford's "Mr Big" Paul Massey.

Fellows, known as "The Iceman" has been sentenced to life in prison this morning for the double murder of the ganglands players.

The murders were linked to a savage gang war which spilled out into the streets of Ashton back in March 2015 when a 28-year-old man was shot at a car wash on Bolton Road.

"Mr Big" Massey and his gangland enforcer Kinsella were both killed as a result of the ongoing rivalry.

A split within the dominant self-styled A Team gang, led by Stephen Britton - who Massey acted as a mentor for, began in the summer of 2014.

A separate faction, led by Michael Carroll, included Kinsella's killers Mark Fellows and Steven Boyle, both life-long serious criminals.

Both sides were said to be involved in drugs, robbery and extortion.Father-of-five Massey, 55, a notorious "Mr Big" crime figure in Salford and beyond, was shot 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. 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 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.

Just hours after the murder, Fellows was pictured ordering a meal at KFC on Gerard Street in Ashton.

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

At a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court this morning he was sentenced to life in prison.