Men accused of two gangland killings apply to get the case against them thrown out

Author: Astrid Quinn

Two men accused of killing two gangland figures are to apply to get the case against them thrown out.

Mark Fellows and Steven Boyle today (Mon) appeared at Liverpool Crown Court where they were due to enter their pleas to the charges against them.

However the court heard that they are applying for them to be dismissed and that hearing is to be held on October 4.

Fellows, 37, of Sandy Lane West, Warrington and Boyle, 35, of Sandy Way, Heywood, Manchester are both charged with the murders of John Kinsella and Paul Massey. They are also accused of at the attempted murder of Mr Kinsella’s partner Wendy Owen.

Kinsella, originally from Everton, had been an underworld fixer who once stopped a gangster terrorising former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

The 53-year-old died after being shot while walking his dog with Ms Owen on a footpath, near to the St Helens Linkway and the M62 motorway, at 7am on Saturday, May 5. A shot was also fired at Ms Owen as she ran away from the scene.

Kinsella had served time in jail for his part in a £41,000 robbery in Grantham, Lincolnshire in 2006.

Massey, 55, was gunned down outside his home in July 2015. He was a well-known figure in his home city of Salford and had been involved in security firms operating in Manchester and beyond.

The father-of-five died in a hail of bullets as he stepped out of a silver BMW car outside his home in the Clifton area of Salford almost two years ago.

The two defendants today appeared via video link from Wakefield Prison but they are to be appear in person at the court for the next hearing.

A provisional date for their trial has already been set for November with it estimated to last between four to six weeks