EVERY piece of technology tells a story. For some, this may be unwittingly.

Hitman Mark Fellows discovered this the hard way as he faces a long stretch behind bars for the ‘stone-cold murders’ of Paul Massey and John Kinsella.

Investigating officers described the discovery of a Garmin Forerunner watch owned by Fellows as a ‘lightbulb moment’. It was the evidence they needed to put the final piece of the jigsaw together.

Fellows had been pictured wearing the watch while running the Great Manchester Run in 2015.

The same watch had also been used in a reconnaissance mission three months before Mr Massey’s murder. A simple mistake, but a foolish decision that would secure his fate and a long stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure. 

Fellows had travelled from his then-home in Salford to the field behind St Anne’s Church, opposite Mr Massey’s home on April 29, 2015.

While the watch had never been synced to a computer, it was used as a timer, leaving behind a trail.

This piece of evidence proved vital in tying Fellows to the shooting of Mr Massey.

During the period between the killings of Mr Massey and Mr Kinsella, detectives – despite extensive work – didn’t have enough evidence to charge the suspects.

The watch was only uncovered when officers at Merseyside Police and GMP raided Fellows’ home on Sandy Lane West in Orford following the shooting of Mr Kinsella three years later.

Ahead of the trial, the Warrington Guardian was invited to a media briefing at Greater Manchester Police (GMP) headquarters where high-ranking officers shared details of the probe and the evidence that had been painstakingly collected as part of the investigation.

Mr Massey’s murder was the culmination of a year-long feud between a Salford gang known as The A Team and a splinter faction, now named the Anti A Team.

It is believed the feud escalated quickly when a woman threw a drink over a key member of The A Team during the summer of 2014.

What followed was a spate of violent attacks on gang members and their unsuspecting families.

In the wake of the fallout, nine separate incidents were linked to the gang including a grenade attack. Seven people were also shot while another was assaulted with a machete.

Many lived in fear of speaking out, which further frustrated the investigation. 

“When there is an organised crime gang incident the obvious thing is fear,” said detective chief inspector Carl Jones, during the briefing.

“People will not speak and we have the frustrations of the victims’ families who want it to be solved quickly and rightly so.

“But there are lots of things that stop us from doing that.”