THE family and partner of John Kinsella have paid tribute to him after the two men have been sentenced to life behind bars for his murder.

At around 7am on Saturday, May 5 2018, officers were called to reports of a shooting on St Helens Linkway, Rainhill Stoops and 53-year-old John Kinsella, died at the scene.

A jury yesterday, Wednesday, January 16 delivered their verdict, finding both Mark Fellows and Steven Boyle guilty of the murder of John Kinsella and finding Mark Fellows guilty with the murder of Paul Massey.

Mark Fellows, 38 of Sandy Lane West, Warrington, was found guilty of the murder of John Kinsella and Paul Massey and has today been handed an indefinite life sentence in prison.

Steven Boyle, 36, of Sandiway, Heywood, was yesterday found guilty of the murder of John Kinsella and was today sentenced to life in prison where he will serve a minimum of 33 years.

John Kinsella’s partner, Wendy Owen, said: “John was my long term partner, and the father of our six week old baby.

“He was brutally taken from us on the morning of 5th of May right in front of me, leaving me with heart breaking images that will live with me for the rest of my life.

“Our child will never get to see her dad, and John will never see her grow up and enjoy all the important stages of her life and future as any loving parent would.

“Our lives have now changed forever. I will miss John with all my heart and all the plans we had made for our families future.

“I hope that his killers serve the sentence they deserve and are able to reflect on what they have done.

I would like to thank Merseyside Police for bringing Johns killers to justice and I will now begin the sad task of trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and move on with our child.”

The Kinsella family also paid tribute to their loving brother, adding: “John was born and brought up in Liverpool the only brother to eight sisters.

“Being the only boy John always held a unique place in the family. After the loss of both our parents he became the backbone for his eight sisters.

"He was a provider, a protector, a confidant and often a peace maker between squabbling sisters.

“John always had our best interests at heart, from the oldest to the youngest sister he loved to tell us all what to do, we didn’t always appreciate it but he was our brother and we would give anything to have him back.

“John was dignified, compassionate and extremely generous, he had many friends, he was a devoted father and grandfather and he was delighted to learn in the weeks before his death that he was to become a father again.

“We are all truly devastated at the way his life was taken in such a callous and cruel manner by the weak and cowardly actions of Mark Fellows and Stephen Boyle.

“John will be missed by his many friends, and all his family and of course his beloved Wendy who we have taken to our hearts.

“We at this point would like to put on record our true appreciation for all the hard work and dedication of the police, the CPS and the court for making these convictions possible and affording justice to our family.

“Finally we would like to say that we will always love John and he will always love us that is forever and now this trial is over, we will pick ourselves up and will try to re-build our lives.”

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Baker, said: “I’m pleased with the sentence both men have received and hope that this goes some way to giving all those involved some closure.

“However, I am under no illusion that the Kinsella family themselves have also been handed a lifelong sentence, including John and Wendy’s new born baby, who will now sadly grow up without a father.

“Over the course of a lengthy trial, we have seen evidence given by a number of professionals, members of the public and members of both John Kinsella and Paul Massey’s families; who today can pride themselves in knowing that they have all been extremely valuable in this investigation and bringing two very dangerous men to justice.

“No human being, regardless of their past, should lose their lives through such a brutal and premeditated attack.

“As a result of their actions, Fellows and Boyle caused the public to feel unsafe in the Salford and St Helens areas for some time and I’m hoping we can now work alongside our communities to rebuild the trust and security that has been so cruelly taken away.

“My continued support remains with John Kinsella’s partner, Wendy Owen and I want to take this opportunity to praise her for her bravery for both working with us during the investigation and giving evidence in court. She is a credit to John and I am sure that he’d be very proud of her.

“I want to also thank the investigative work of both Merseyside and GMP officers as well as the Crown Prosecution Service who together have worked painstakingly to piece together CCTV, carry out forensic analysis and use good old fashioned policing in order identify and bring these men to justice.

“As a force, we’ll continue to tackle gun crime to ensure dangerous weapons are taken off our streets. Anyone that has information or believes this sort of crime to be taking place in their area is urged to DM @MerPolCC or in an emergency always call 999.”

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