Ice Man assassin will today challenge the sentence that will see him die behind bars

Underworld hitman Mark Fellows will today appeal the 'life means life' sentence he was handed for the murder of gangland figures Paul Massey and John Kinsella.

The 38-year-old gunned down both men in the midst of a brutal feud that had its roots in Salford and was convicted of their murders earlier this year.

He was hit with a life sentence with no minimum term - a rarely given punishment that means he will die behind bars.

Undated handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Mark Fellows, 38, who has been sentenced to a whole-life term at Liverpool Crown Court for the murders of gangland 'Mr Big' Paul Massey and mob enforcer, John Kinsella. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday January 17, 2019. See PA story COURTS Salford. Photo credit should read: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. (PA)

But today he will seek to win some sort of future in the outside world, even if it is decades away, as he appeals for a more lenient sentence.

The appeal, launched in the immediate aftermath of a high profile murder trial that saw him given an armed escort to and from Liverpool Crown Court, will be heard at Manchester Crown Court today .

Fellows - who has been serving his sentence at Whitemoor Category A maximum security prison in Cambridgeshire - is due to appear via video link.

The 'gun-for-hire' did not give evidence during a trial that heard how he shot dead 'Mr Big' Paul Massey outside his Salford home in the summer of 2015.

Fellows, dubbed the Ice Man, struck again last year, this time on Merseyside, shooting dead John Kinsella on a countryside footpath near the Rainhill Stoops junction of the M62.

Shooting of Salford gangster Mr Big - Paul Massey. Staff Picture by : Andy Stenning Police and forensic team at the house of Paul Massey on Manchester Road, Salford where he was shot on Sunday night (MDM)

Kinsella had been a friend of Massey and once stepped in to help Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard deal with trouble from a gangster.

Jailing him earlier this year, judge Mr Justice Davis described the murders as "execution, pure and simple".

He said: "So far as is known you had no personal animus in relation to Paul Massey.

"The only sensible conclusion is that you were a gun for hire prepared to kill whoever you were asked to kill by those who hired you."

Fellows' sentence - that of life with no minimum term - is one that is reserved for the perpetrators of some of the UK's most sickening crimes.

Police killer Dale Cregan is serving one.

Fellows' 'spotter' Steven Boyle was cleared of Massey's murder but found guilty after trial of murdering 53-year-old Kinsella - a charge he had denied.

He was handed a life sentence with a minimum 33 years behind bars.

Both men were found not guilty of the attempted murder of Kinsella's partner Wendy Owen, who was walking the couple's dogs with him when he was shot.

Boyle is not thought to appealing either his sentence or conviction.