Associate of ‘The Iceman’

An associate of the jailed assassin who murdered Salford ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey has been attacked behind bars, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. Aaron Parkin, 36, was ‘stabbed up’ while serving a long prison sentence for his part in a long-running Salford[1] gang feud which culminated in the murder of Massey in 2015 by Mark Fellows, nicknamed ‘The Iceman’. The feud appears to be continuing behind bars.

In May the M.E.N. revealed Fellows was attacked at HMP Wakefield.[2] He was stabbed in the head and the neck at the maximum security jail. The double murderer was treated by prison medics. He was left with a scar after a similar attack in 2019.

Now the M.E.N. has learned his co-defendant Parkin was attacked at the high-security HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire last week. He was ‘stabbed up’, according to one source. Dressed in army fatigues, Fellows peppered Massey, 55, with shots from an Uzi sub-machine gun and then pursued his target up the driveway of his home on Manchester Road in Clifton, Salford, to finish him off.

Known as Salford’s ‘Mr Big’, Massey was one the city’s most notorious and feared figures but he died on his own doorstep. Three years later Fellows, now 43, murdered Massey’s pal from Liverpool, John ‘Scouse’ Kinsella, 53. The hitman cycled up to his target near the village of Rainhill in Merseyside as his target walked his dogs.

The assassin shot him twice in the back and then calmly approached his stricken victim to shoot him twice more in the back of the head. Fellows was handed a rare whole-life term in January 2019 following 26-day trial which ended with him being convicted of two counts of murder. A year later, he was handed another life sentence for his involvement in a gangland attack in the months before he murdered Paul Massey.

Mark Fellows, left, and Paul Massey (Image: CPS/M.E.N.)

Beside him in the dock was associate Aaron Parkin – both men had waged war against a Salford outfit dubbed The A Team, calling themselves the Anti A Team.

It was a feud characterised by extreme violence. Fellows was convicted in relation to brutal attack on a rival, Aaron Williams. Parkin, who the judge said played a ‘critical’ role in plots to attack Williams and another A Teamer, Abdul Rahman Khan, was jailed for 14 years.

He was responsible for trackers placed on Khan and Williams’ cars prior to the attacks. Khan and Williams were described as associates of Massey and Stephen Britton, said to be the leader of the A Team. Parkin risked the wrath of Fellows by admitting two counts of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to both attacks.

Fellows was acquitted on counts of conspiracy to murder, but convicted of one count of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the attack on Williams. Khan, a close associate of Massey, was shot in February 2015 as he stopped his Mercedes at the junction of Fairfield Street and Doveleys Road in Salford. Masked men had approached the car, with one firing a pump action shotgun three times into the vehicle.

Mark Fellows in the Great Manchester Run, 2015.

The data from his Garmin watch help to convict him of Paul Massey’s murder

Khan was able to drive away, and later went to hospital where he said he had suffered a DIY drilling accident. Weeks later, on March 21, Aaron Williams was brutally attacked on Brattice Drive in Salford with a machete. He was lucky to survive, only pulling through thanks to the skill of medical staff.

The two incidents formed part of what was described in court as a ‘deadly war’ fought between the A Team and a rival criminal gang, known as the Anti A Team said to be headed by Michael Carroll. In 2021, Parkin was handed a further nine years behind bars for leading a huge cocaine ring run out of an auction house.[5] The M.E.N. understands Parkin has been serving his sentences at HMP Long Lartin, a high-security prison in Worcestershire.

A source familiar with Salford gangland said he had been ‘stabbed up’ behind bars. Prison officials have confirmed there was an attack – it is understood Parkin was treated for ‘minor injuries’ and was treated by prison medics. He did not require hospital treatment.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate violence in prisons and thanks to our hardworking staff – and our GBP100m investment in prison security – assaults across the estate are nearly a third lower than in 2019.”

References

1. ^ Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^ was attacked at HMP Wakefield. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ The murder of Paul Massey: How ‘Mr Big’ lost control of Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^ ‘Ste v Cazza’ – Paul Massey ally’s gangland feud ‘settled’ with a ‘straightener in Dubai’ (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^ a huge cocaine ring run out of an auction house. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)