A city is bracing itself for more gang violence after a “Mr Big” security boss was shot to death at his home.
Businessman Paul Massey, 55, was blasted at his house in Clifton, Salford on Sunday evening.
The father of five was a well-known figure in his home city of Salford, and had been involved in security firms operating in Manchester and beyond.
Massey was born and raised in the city and enjoyed a popular and fearsome reputation – despite being not much over five feet tall and continuing to live a modest life in his home town.
He had first been dubbed “Mr Big” by a local councillor in Salford following civil disturbances in the city in the 1990s and he was later jailed for 14 years for a savage knife attack outside a nightclub in Manchester city centre.
Police have increased patrols in Salford following his murder amid fears already-simmering gun violence in the city could spill over.
Tony Lloyd, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester is reportedly in close contact with senior officers investigating the killing and called on the people of Salford to help the police.
The shooting of Paul Massey comes amid concern gun crime is on the rise again in Greater Manchester – many of it concentrated in Salford.
Massey’s reputation grew since the 1990s and he had reportedly in the past acted as a mediator between warring factions.
He declared he wanted to keep heroin off the streets of Salford and stickers appeared on lamp posts warning smack dealers they risked getting “smacked” if they brought their goods to the city.
He was given the title “Mr Big” by the late Salford councillor Joe Burrows at a town hall meeting to discuss civil disturbances in 1992. Massey denied having anything to do with the unrest.
But in 1999 he was sentenced to 14 years after he stabbed a man in the groin, severing an artery, and apparently leaving him for dead outside a club in Manchester At the time he was being filmed by a TV crew making a documentary about his life.
After the attack Massey fled to Amsterdam, but was extradited.
Since his release from Frankland Prison in County Durham, he is believed to have been involved in the security business and to have invested in property.
Massey was regarded as a “target” criminal by police, and he alleged that a branch of the MI5 security services working with police against organised crime was monitoring him.
In 2012 Massey fought a losing campaign to become the elected mayor of Salford – saying he would rid the streets of drugs.
He called on voters to forget his “Mr Big” reputation, that it was in the past and people had misjudged him.
However he was still under investigation earlier this year by police from the regional organised crime squad investigating allegations of money laundering.
He had been arrested with five others in December 2011 as part of a police probe in to a Salford-based security company.
Massey claimed the police were conducting a “witch hunt” against him and strenuously denied any wrongdoing after having his bail conditions relaxed.