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]
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]
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.
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]
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.