John Kinsella (criminal)

Last updated

John Kinsella was an English criminal from Everton, Liverpool. [1] He was shot dead in May 2018 by killers using encrypted EncroChat handsets to co-ordinate the murder. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

He was an expert in judo and jujutsu, and was originally from Everton. [4]

He was a criminal associate of gangster Paul Massey and a pallbearer at his funeral. [5] [6] [7]

Criminal history

In 1991, Kinsella was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to nine years' imprisonment for attempted robbery and carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence. [4]

In 2006, he was involved in a robbery in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and was put on trial for it in 2008. [8] During the trial, the jury was read a letter from the father of Steven Gerrard saying that Kinsella had stopped his son from being threatened by a criminal, George Bromley Jnr, known as "The Psycho" in 2001. [1] [8] [9] When, during the trial, Kinsella was allowed into the court grounds during a lunch break, he absconded. [8] He was convicted in his absence and sentenced to 14 years. [8] He was subsequently arrested in February 2009. [8] [10]

Kinsella's death was the result of a gang feud begun in 2015 between two rival criminal organisations in Salford. [7] One gang, headed by Michael Carroll, had Mark Fellows and Steven Boyle as members. [7] The rival gang, said to be headed by Stephen Britton, called itself "the A-team". [7] Kinsella and Massey were associated with the latter gang.

Death

Kinsella was shot dead on 5 May 2018 near St Helens Linkway in Rainhill by Mark Fellows. [1] [6] [11]

Fellows was found guilty of the murders of both Kinsella and Massey in January 2019. [6] [11] Stephen Boyle was convicted of murder for his part of acting as a "spotter" in the murder of John Kinsella. [6] [11]

It was later revealed during the investigation that the murder of Kinsella was organised by means of EncroChat devices. [2] [12] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Gerrard</span> English football manager (born 1980)

Steven George Gerrard is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Gerrard spent the vast majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both.

The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vacuum within Melbourne's criminal community, and rival factions fought for control and influence. Many of the murders remain unsolved, although detectives from the Purana Taskforce believe that Carl Williams was responsible for at least ten of them. The period culminated in the arrest of Williams, who pleaded guilty on 28 February 2007 to three of the murders.

The Irish Mob is a usually crime family-based ethnic collective of organized crime syndicates composed of primarily ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Noonan</span> English criminal

Desmond Patrick "Dessy" Noonan was an English organised crime figure from Manchester, who acted as a political fixer for the Noonan crime family. He and his younger brother, Dominic Noonan, were suspected by police of being responsible for at least 25 murders during their 20-year reign over Manchester's underworld.

The Arifs are a South East London-based Turkish criminal organization heavily involved in armed robbery, drug trafficking and other racketeering-related activities within London's underworld since the late 1960s. Following the downfall of the Kray brothers, the Arifs were one of several criminal organisations who took control of the London underworld including the Clerkenwell crime syndicate and the Brindle family with whom they were engaged in a highly publicised gangland war during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Ferris (Scottish writer)</span> Scottish author and organised crime figure

Paul John Ferris is a Scottish author and organised crime figure. Ferris was an enforcer for Glasgow 'Godfather' Arthur Thompson in the early 1980s. Known for his ruthlessness and extreme violence, he rose to a prominent position in the city's criminal underworld.

The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family, headed by matriarch Kath Pettingill. Family members have many convictions for criminal offences including drug trafficking, arms dealing and armed robberies.

In 2004 the murders of Terence and Christine Hodson caused the Victorian government to establish the Office of Police Integrity to investigate probable Victoria Police involvement in the murders and to investigate the leaking of sensitive police information to the Melbourne underworld.

The Crumlin-Drimnagh feud is a feud between rival criminal gangs in south inner city Dublin, Ireland. The feud began in 2000 when a drugs seizure led to a split in a gang of young criminals in their late teens and early twenties, most of whom had grown up together and went to the same school. The resulting violence has led to 16 murders and scores of beatings, stabbings, shootings and pipe bomb attacks.

Martin Hyland was a major Irish criminal and gang boss.

Eamon Dunne, nicknamed "The Don", was a major Irish organised crime figure from Finglas, North Dublin. He led a gang based in Finglas, Cabra, and Ballymun, who were involved in drug dealing, armed robbery, extortion and murder. He took control of the gang after the murder of crime boss Martin "Marlo" Hyland, who was shot dead in December 2006, and Gardaí suspect that Dunne, who was one of Hyland's closest associates, drove the getaway car for the killers.

British firms are organised crime groups originating in the United Kingdom.

Paul Massey was an English organised crime figure and Salford-based businessman. He was shot dead outside his home by Mark Fellows on 26 July 2015.

The Hutch–Kinahan feud is a major ongoing feud between two criminal organisations in the Republic of Ireland that has resulted in the deaths of eighteen people, the majority of which have been perpetrated by the Kinahan family. The Hutch gang, led by Gerry Hutch, and the Kinahan Family, led by Daniel Kinahan, are the main participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McAteer</span> Scottish gangster

Ian Douglas McAteer is a Scottish former gangster who was a prominent figure in the Glasgow and Liverpool criminal underworlds during the later 20th century. McAteer accumulated various convictions, and in 2001 was sentenced to life for the 1999 murder of a gangland associate; he had been acquitted of a previous murder charge in 1998. McAteer was a suspect in other crimes, including the 1999 murder of television presenter Jill Dando.

EncroChat was a Europe-based communications network and service provider that offered modified smartphones allowing encrypted communication among subscribers. It was used primarily by organized crime members to plan criminal activities. Police infiltrated the network between at least March and June 2020 during a Europe-wide investigation. An unidentified source associated with EncroChat announced on the night of 12–13 June 2020 that the company would cease operations because of the police operation.

Mark Fellows (5 September 1980) is an English hitman convicted of the murders of John Kinsella and Paul Massey, rival enforcers to the Anti A Team criminal network. At the time of his conviction he was one of only 70 prisoners sentenced to a whole life term.

The Sydney gangland war were a series of murders and killings of several known criminal figures and their associates that took place in Sydney, Australia, during the 1980s. A vast majority of the murders were seen as retributive killings, attempts to control Sydney's drug trade, and expansion of criminal territory. A significant number of the murders that took place during the Sydney gangland war went unsolved, mainly due to corrupt police and their association with members of the Sydney Underworld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinahan Organised Crime Group</span> Irish criminal organisation

The Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), also known as the Kinahan Cartel, is a major Irish transnational organised crime syndicate alleged to be the most powerful in Ireland and one of the largest organised crime groups in the world. It is also established in the UK, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. It was founded by Christy Kinahan in the 1990s. His eldest son Daniel manages the day-to-day operations of the family's criminal group. Estimated reports have credited them with wealth of up to €1 billion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Underworld enforcer named as St Helens shooting victim". BBC News. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 Staff (26 November 2018). "Underworld duo 'murdered in gangland feud'". BBC News .
  3. 1 2 Hamilton, Fiona (2 July 2020). "Hundreds of arrests as police crack phone network used by crime bosses". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460. His trial was told the hits were co-ordinated using Encrochat on a device which cost £1,500 for a six-month contract and was sold on websites visited by those engaged in crime.
  4. 1 2 Thomas, Joe (6 May 2018). "Who was John Kinsella? 'Gangland fixer' who helped Steven Gerrard shot dead". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. ↑ Keeling, Neal (31 May 2018). "Exclusive - the moment murdered John Kinsella carried Paul Massey's coffin at his funeral". Manchester Evening News .
  6. 1 2 3 4 Perraudin, Frances (16 January 2019). "Hitman guilty of murdering Salford 'Mr Big' Paul Massey". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Hurst, Pat (26 November 2018). "Gangland feud led to double murder of underworld 'Mr Big' Paul Massey and mob 'fixer' John Kinsella" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fugitive Gerrard 'fixer' arrested". BBC News. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Court cuts confiscation bill of Steven Gerrard 'fixer'". BBC News. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  10. ↑ Perraudin, Frances (17 January 2019). "Gangland hitman gets life term for murder of Salford 'Mr Big'". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 "'Mr Big' Paul Massey murder: Hitman gets life in jail". BBC News. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Hughes, Janet (21 May 2019). "The £3,000 a year encrypted mobiles with kill pills used by gangs". Gloucester Citizen .

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.