A GANGLAND hitman is facing life behind bars after being convicted of the double murder of a mob enforcer and an underworld Mr Big.

Mark Fellows, 38, nicknamed The Iceman, murdered Salford mobster Paul Massey with an Uzi machine gun outside his home in July 2015.

Father-of-five Massey, 55, 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.

READ MORE: Mark Fellows found guilty of murdering Paul Massey and John Kinsella

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.

Kinsell was walking his dogs with his pregnant partner, Wendy Owen, 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.

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 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. Fellows smiled and nodded as he was found guilty of both murders.

Outside, police in combat gear carrying 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.

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, said a whole-life term for Fellows, meaning he will never be released, is required given the double murder, involving firearms and the substantial degree of planning.

Nick Johnson QC, defending Fellows, asked for “mercy” saying the defendant is a father-of-two, who faces dying behind bars.

Mr Justice William Davis said he would sentence both men today at 9.30am.

Outside court, members of the Massey and Kinsella families shook hands and shared hugs with police detectives.

Det Chief Insp Mark Baker of Merseyside Police, said: “The murder of both John Kinsella and Paul Massey were pre-meditated and brutal. No human being, no matter what their past should lose their lives in such violent circumstances.”

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Jones who investigated the Massey murder, added: “I think it will have a huge impact on organised crime. This investigation is only one strand of a larger, Operation Leopard investigation, I cannot go into that, but I can tell you that this will have a major impact.

“We have got trials that are pending.”

Chief Insp Jones said Fellows was “an absolute, callous killer, to plan how he planned to murder Paul Massey, go into huge detail, visiting the scene”.

He added: “He’s planned it to the nth degree and moved that on to the murder of John Kinsella.

“There are no words for him, he’s just so callous.”