A man who is standing trial accused of murdering an 18-year-old man over seven years ago says he was in the gym at the time of the shooting. David Ungi, 31, is a suspect in the death of Vinny Waddington who was killed in July 2015.
Two men were convicted of Waddington's death as he suffered a shotgun wound to the chest after a crash in Garston, Liverpool. Ungi, who had fled the UK and was caught in Spain last year with a pistol, is standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court suspected to have been involved in the murder, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Ungi claims he didn't know he had a firearm in his possession after police caught up with him seven years since the shooting. The 31-year-old had gotten in to an altercation at a gym with Waddington's brother, Liam, the day before the murder, it was heard.
Ungi gave evidence at the trial and says the scuffle was "literally just a push and a shove, something two school kids would do in the playground". He denied having threatened to shoot the teen, hit him with a dumbbell or accused him of being "with the grasses" during this dispute at a Pro Flex Gym.
He claims the teenager "looked at him and said 'who the f*** am I looking at'", at which point he responded "I'm looking at you, you divvy". On the stand, he said: "He's pushed me and I've pushed him back.
"That's literally what's happened. He's got on his bike and he's drove off. He started screaming and shouting, people got in between him and told him to leave because he was screaming and shouting. I hit him with nothing, if I hit him with a pole or something like that I would have hurt him.
"I didn't even think about it. I found it quite funny, just the way he acted over somebody looking at him."
Ungi claims he did not know the Waddington brothers and "only found out when he became wanted who they actually were". He said he was in the same gym at the time of the shooting the following evening, having initially taken a taxi there with friend Ryan Bate.
He was quizzed over why a Lucozade bottle with his fingerprints came to be in the back of an Audi involved in the murder, and told the court: "I don't know exactly, I've never been in that car in my life. The only thing I can think is Ryan's picked up my drink by mistake and took it in the car with him."
Ungi was asked why he fled the country and responded that he was informed anyone to do with associates Ryan Bate and Luke Kendrick were "getting it". He visited the home of cousin Ron Fitzgibbon and his brother Michael Riccio as they both urged him to leave the country, he claims.
He said: "Ryan's one of my good mates. I'd probably be at the top of the list.
"I lost my dad as a kid, I nearly lost my brother. I was just scared. When I got to Ron's, Michael showed up. He started stressing, getting worried, telling me to leave.
"He started stressing, getting angry, telling me 'look what's happened to all the family'. You might as well get away for a bit. I was never running from the police. It's because one of my mates was involved and they were looking for anyone to do with him.
"They will go after anyone close to the people who done it. It will calm down, and by the time I come back it will all be ok. I was going to come back after a few weeks. When I was away, I saw news articles saying 'David Ungi, the baby-faced assassin wanted for murder'.
"It was saying I was in the back of the car. I seen all that, with all the police and the lies. They lie about us. I didn't think I'd get a fair trial, it's basically making me guilty in the eyes of the people."
Police found Ungi in the town of Coin, near Malaga in Spain in May 2022. He was carrying a loaded 9mm parabellum pistol when detained which he had been handed by another man he had been living with. After a search of the address, police discovered a self-loading "fully functional" Colt .45 calibre pistol, a "partially converted" blank-firing Zoraki pistol and a quantity of ammunition.
Ungi responded: "I didn't know I had a handgun at that time. I just got passed a bag, I didn't know it had a gun in it. My friend passed me the bag and it had a gun in it."
He denies murder and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm as the trial continues.
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