A car alleged to be used by a man accused of killing Salford gangland figure, Paul Massey, was spotted close to the scene of the fatal shooting, a murder trial jury was told today.
PC Martin Wakeman took to the stand at Liverpool Crown Court to give evidence in the ongoing trial. The police officer specialises in identifying vehicles linked to crimes, and has spent hours studying the CCTV footage involved in the case.
Massey, 55, was gunned down in July 2015 outside his Salford home. He was a well-known figure and had been involved in security firms operating in Manchester.
John Kinsella, 53, from Everton, died after being shot in May this year whilst on a dog walk with his partner.
Stephen Boyle, 35, and Mark Fellow, 38, are jointly accused of both murders and the attempted murder of Kinsella’s partner Wendy Owen.
Paul Greaney, QC, for the prosecution, questioned PC Wakeman, over evidence that links a Skoda Superb car with Fellows in the months leading up to the killings. Mr Greaney said it is accepted Fellows was the user of the five door Skoda Superb and it was spotted by CCTV cameras near the scene of the crime and driving past Massey’s home.
The jury was shown images of the Skoda and PC Wakeman says the car shown in all images is consistent with Fellow’s vehicle.
Mr Greaney said the CCTV footage showed a Skoda vehicle going towards or past Massey’s home a number of times on July 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
Mr Greaney told the court Fellows travelled from his home to the Red Lion pub on July 26. This was not following a direct route and instead passing the house of Paul Massey.
PC Wakeman also analysed the footage of Boyle’s car leading up to the killings. Boyle owns a Vauxhall Insignia car. PC Wakeman stated that a car passed through the traffic lights 17 seconds after Massey’s vehicle then turns and it was a white Insignia.
Peter Wright, QC, defending Boyle, said the jury should consider that the quality of the footage is poor and should draw their own conclusions from it.
PC Wakeman accepted the footage was poor and along with the weather conditions it was difficult to make a positive identification.
Last month, the court heard that a Garmin Forerunner watch belonging to Fellows was a key piece of evidence in the case against the accused men.
This type of watch worn by keen runners and cyclists has a GPS function enabling routes to be recorded, along with other information such as pace and distance.
The use of the Garmin watch showed that a few months before the shooting of Massey the wearer of the watch had travelled from his home to the area behind a church in which the killer lay in wait for his victim on July 26, 2015.
The trial continues at Liverpool Crown Court.
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