The heartbroken family of Vinny Waddington have described going through "eight years of hell" after he was shot dead.
Vinny, 18, was “gunned down in cold blood” after a crash on Banks Lane in Garston on July 14, 2015. He was the passenger of a motorbike which was hit by an Audi car at around 8.47pm.
One of three men inside the Audi fired a shotgun out of the passenger side window, striking Vinny in the chest. He was able to run a short distance before collapsing.
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David Ungi, formerly of Melbreck Road, Allerton, had denied murdering Mr Waddington and attempting to inflicting grievous bodily harm against Francis Humphries, who was the rider of the bike. This afternoon (Thur) a jury of seven men and five women found Ungi not guilty of both charges after 15 hours and 46 minutes deliberations.
The devastated family of Vinny Waddington have released a statement following Ungi's acquittal of murder and said they hope they can "finally begin to grieve".
A representative for the family told The ECHO: "Unfortunately we didn’t get the result everyone wanted, we first stood here in May 2016 returning again May 2023, we have remained dignified but naturally with higher emotions.
"The day we lost Vincent, our lives changed and quite frankly, as a family we have had eight years of hell. Vincent didn’t deserve to have his life taken from him at 18 and he didn’t deserve to have it taken from him in the way that he did.
"Vincent is and always will be a much loved son, brother, grandson, nephew, friend and our lives will forever be changed as a result of his death. Hopefully now we can finally begin to grieve as we no longer have to be on eggshells waiting for a further trial and we respectfully state that will be doing so privately as a family."
Ungi, who looked relieved, was not released from the dock following the not guilty verdit and the judge, Mr Justice Goose explained to the jury that Ungi is currently serving a sentence for offences committed in Spain.
The jury heard during the trial that Ungi left the UK on a ferry to France the day after the fatal shooting and was not found for seven years. Spanish police spent days scoping out Ungi's hiding place after a tip-off before arresting him at a gym on the Costa del Sol on May 5 last year before his extradition back to the UK.
Two other men, Luke Kendrick and Ryan Bate, were found guilty of Vinny’s murder by a jury in May 2016 and are serving life sentences. Kendrick has to serve at least 25 years and Bate’s minimum term is 24 years. Ungi told the jury that he was working out at a gym when Vinny Waddington was shot.
He said that he had fled the UK after coming under threat following the shooting. He said he had not been running from the police but because Ryan Bate was one of his friends and the victim’s friends were looking for anyone to do with Bate and Kendrick.
He said: "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."
Ungi also highlighted an eyewitness account describing a man who exited the back of the car as being 6ft and of "slim build", saying, "You're saying I'm the backseat passenger. I'm 5ft 4ins.
The court heard that his DNA was discovered on a Lucozade bottle in the rear of the car in the passenger's side.
Asked about this he said, “I’ve never been in that car in my life. The only thing I can think is Ryan has picked up my drink by mistake and took it in the car with him."
Ungi said that after hearing about the threats against him he was "s***ting himself because "people were trying to kill him". He said he had stayed in France "for a bit" after arriving via the Channel Tunnel before moving onwards to Spain.
When he was arrested near Malaga he was carrying a backpack which he had been handed by another man he had been living with - which contained a loaded 9mm parabellum pistol.
A search of their address also revealed a self-loading "fully functional" Colt .45 calibre pistol, a "partially converted" blank-firing Zoraki pistol and a quantity of ammunition.
He said that he thought the rucksack had been a "gym bag to go to the gym with", adding, "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."
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