A murderer smeared himself in urine and faeces after his arrest over the shotgun killing of Vinny Waddington.
The 18-year-old was fatally blasted in the chest nearly eight years ago after a crash on Banks Road in Garston. David Ungi, 31, is currently standing trial accused of murdering the teenager at Liverpool Crown Court.
Jurors today heard evidence from a series of forensic scientists who worked on the case. One, Mandy Wood, said in her statement that Luke Kendrick - who was previously convicted of Mr Waddington's murder - was arrested at around midnight, roughly three hours after the incident, but was not tested for the presence of gunshot residue until 6pm the following day after he "smeared himself with his urine and faeces" in his cell.
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But swabs subsequently revealed the presence of a "medium to low level" of gunshot residue. This "supported the view" that he had "recently been exposed to the discharge of a firearm or was in contact with a person or item bearing gunshot residue".
Ms Wood's statement also described how shotgun wadding was recovered from a footpath on Banks Lane and a North Face jacket recovered nearby. Meanwhile, a blood-stained green North Face woollen jumper recovered from the floor of a bedroom in the home of Francis Humphries - who was also shot - contained a "very high level of lead particles".
And gunshot residue present on an "apparent scorch mark" on the driver's side wing mirror of an Audi A3 Quattro involved in the collision was said to be "consistent with a firearm being discharged in very close proximity". Forensic scientist Andre Botha found this to be "consistent with the firearm almost touching the top of the housing when discharged", while the weapon - which he believed to be a 12-gauge shotgun - "could have been fired from the driver's seat", although "other positions in the car are possible".
Crime scene investigator Natalie Pilling told the jury that items recovered from inside the car included a Brazilian mango and mandarin-flavoured bottle of Lucozade from the front nearside footwell and a half-full orange flavour version of the sports drink in the rear nearside footwell. Colleague Lisa Johnston said swabs were taken from the lids, mouthpieces and necks of the two containers and revealed DNA on the latter matching Ungi's - as well as that of a second, unidentified male.
Peter Glenser KC told the court during the prosecution's opening that Mr Waddington was "gunned down in cold blood" on the evening of July 14, 2015. He had been the pillion passenger of a scrambler bike which was involved in a crash with a blue Audi A3 before he was shot dead.
The jury heard that "three men were responsible for his murder", with two men - Kendrick and Ryan Bate - having previously been found guilty. Mr Glenser described Ungi, formerly of Melbreck Road in Allerton, as the "third man".
The shooting came a day Liam Waddington had been involved in an argument with Ungi, then 23, at Pro Flex Gym. In a WhatsApp message sent to his girlfriend in the early afternoon of July 13, Vinny said: "Our kid has just had murder with David Ungi in the gym, it's going off."
The following evening, the car and two motorbikes were seen "riding around" Garston and Speke. One witness described hearing an "exchange of words" between the Audi and one bike, which was described by another member of the public as driving "fast and stupidly".
The vehicles then crashed at around 8.45pm, with the red scrambler coming to rest underneath the car. An occupant of the Audi was subsequently said to have shot both Mr Waddington and Mr Humphries, the rider of the motorbike.
The former managed to flee to the garden of a nearby house in the aftermath. He was later rushed to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, but died as a result of a shotgun wound to the left-hand side of his chest.
Mr Humphries meanwhile managed to "get himself away from the three men" and was driven away by a friend who happened to be passing the scene in his car. He too attended hospital that evening after suffering "three to four wounds from shotgun pellets", but was not seriously injured and was discharged shortly afterwards.
Ungi's DNA was then discovered on a Lucozade bottle in the rear of the car in the passenger's side. The same night, he was in contact with his brother Michael Riccio as he "started to plan his flight from the United Kingdom to the continent".
The two men drove down to Dover the following morning before boarding a ferry to France. Mr Riccio returned to England two days later.
Mr Glenser said that "not much is known" of Ungi's subsequent movements, but in May 2022 police in Spain received intelligence that he was "hiding out" in a town called Coin on the Costa Del Sol. They "kept watch" on a house for several days before tailing him to a gym on May 5 last year and arresting him before his extradition back to the UK.
Ungi, who is defended by Caroline Goodwin KC, denies murder and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm. The trial, before Justice Julian Goose, continues.
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