A teenager was told "you're getting shot" during an argument in the gym the day before his brother was fatally blasted in the chest with a shotgun, a murder trial has heard.
David Ungi is currently standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of murdering 18-year-old Vinny Waddington, who was shot dead after a crash on Banks Road in Garston nearly eight years ago. This came just over 24 hours after the now 31-year-old defendant had allegedly been involved in an altercation with the deceased's brother Liam, then aged 17.
He was summonsed to give evidence to the jury via video link this afternoon, Tuesday. But Mr Waddington stated that his recollection of the incident was poor as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Appearing on screen with his long hair tied back and sporting a beard, the witness was asked if he remembered going to the Pro Flex Gym on Wood Street the day before his brother died. But he replied: "No, I don't.
"Sorry. I'm not saying I didn't, but I can't say I did.
"It was a very traumatic time of my life. I've been diagnosed with PTSD and I've blocked a lot of it out.
"I don't want to do this. There was an arrest warrant issued for me to be here today.
"I don't want to be here. I want to move on with my life, and being here is bringing a lot of things back."
Mr Waddington was questioned as to whether he had "had a disagreement with anybody at any time in that gym", but responded: "No, I'm sorry. I don't recall.
"I know I used to go there, that's the best I can give you. I used to go there seven, eight, nine, 10 years ago."
Mr Waddington said he had stopped attending "shortly after my brother was killed", adding: "That section of my life, I've tried to put behind me. I don't want to think about it, I've tried the best I can.
"When I've been to counselling, they say when you suffer with PTSD you repress things and try to blank a lot of things out. I've been diagnosed with PTSD and I can't recall.
"I used to go there, Vinny died, I no longer go there. Because my brother died, I stopped doing a lot of things after that."
Mr Waddington also said he "did not recall" writing and signing a witness statement in May 2016 giving his account of the incident. Peter Glenser KC, prosecuting, then read extracts from this document, in which he was said to have entered the gym and been approached by a man who said: "You're with them grasses, aren't you?"
The statement described him as having told the other male to "go away", but he "kept calling him a grass and wouldn't go away". This gymgoer was then said to have picked up a bar from a weights machine and swung it, striking Mr Waddington to the ribs on his left-hand side.
The man - described as being 5ft10, in his mid-20s and of a "fat build with dirty blonde hair" - then allegedly tried to hit him again, at which point the then teen "grabbed him by the wrist and throat and threw him to the floor". According to the statement, his attacker "got up and shouted 'you're getting shot'".
Others were then said to have intervened, with Mr Waddington leaving and cycling away on his bike. But he told jurors: "I don't remember any of the situation you're referring to."
Mr Glenser 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 - Luke 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 got out and shot both Mr Waddington and Francis 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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