A man who coached the England Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) team in the World Cup is giving evidence today in the M62 gun trial.

David Butlin and two other men are accused of conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Butlin, 39, is also facing a charge of having an offensive weapon, namely a push dagger, on the day that Yassar Yaqub was shot by a police marksman beside the M62 at Ainley Top on January 2 last year.

Butlin, who denies the allegations, is the third defendant to give evidence in the trial, which is now in its sixth day at Leeds Crown Court.

Today, he told the court that he had taught Mr Yaqub boxing.

The jury heard how Butlin, of Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, had started doing Judo when he was seven and went on to do kick boxing, Tai boxing, and Amateur Boxing, rising to the grade of 4th Dan at kick boxing.

He became a professional MMA coach and set up his own gym in 2002.

But the business was hit by a financial crisis and closed, the court heard.

Butlin then coached the England mixed martial arts team in 2009, travelling to the world cup.

Butlin coached Yaqub one to one and they had a mutual interest in cars, he told the jury.

Yaqub dealt in high-performance sports cars and Butlin said he had no knowledge at all that his 'good friend' was involved with class A drugs.

Butlin said he knew co-defendant Rexhino Arapaj as Gino. He had seen him at the gym with Mr Yaqub but did not know him well. 

Butlin said he had never seen or heard of Mohsin Amin, who is on trial with him before the events of January 2, 2017.

He had never heard of a man called Ra or a man called Mohammed Nisar Khan, but he had heard the name Meggy.

A few days before the fatal shooting, Mr Yaqub spoke to Meggy on the phone and looked 'troubled' afterwards.

Butlin said he knew Meggy by reputation. Mr Yaqub said Meggy wanted to meet him about money he (Mr Yaqub) was owed for a car.

Meggy said he could help him get the money but he wanted paying to intervene.

'He said he didn't trust Meggy,' Butlin told the court.

Mr Iqbal asked him to go with him to the meeting. Butlin said he would drive Mr Yaqub there but would not sit down with Meggy.

'I was around to keep an eye on things. I didn't know what he was worried about,' Butlin said.

He had the knife in a pocket in his boxer shorts because he had been using it to cut parcel tape on boxes of stock for his shop selling fitness supplements. He forgot it was there because he was in a rush to unpack. 

He said the boxer shorts with the pocket were a 'freebie' from his martial arts work. Friends carried condoms or Viagra in similar pockets.

He had never heard the knife referred to as a push dagger before the court proceedings.

At 4pm on January 2, 2017, he saw Mr Yaqub and Gino in a white Scirocco in Huddersfield.

Mr Yaqub said they were going to the meeting and Butlin said he assumed it was at a restaurant in Bradford Road in Huddersfield. On the way Mr Yaqub said Meggy wanted him to go to Bradford.

They went to Ainley Top and Mr Yaqub got into the Audi and he drove the Scirocco behind him with Gino in the passenger seat. Butlin denied jumping a red light or going anywhere near 100mph.

When they got to Cafe de Akbar, he parked in Albert Place expecting the meeting to last 20 or 30 minutes.

After more than an hour, 'four lads' came out of the cafe and shook hands. Two of the guys got into a black Bentley with a private number plate. The other two were Mr Yaqub and Amin.

Gino asked if everything was okay and Mr Yaqub replied: 'Yes, cool.'

He told Butlin to follow the Audi back. Butlin said he had no phone contact with Mr Yaqub while he was in the cafe or on the return trip to Huddersfield. When they got to the slip road, there was a car in front with no lights on, like it had broken down.

It was slowing down the traffic. Armed police then pulled him from the car, Butlin said. He saw a flash from the passenger side of the Audi that he believed was from a firearm. The knife was taken from him when he was arrested.

Butlin said it was his decision not to answer police questions.

'It is hard to articulate. It was overwhelming, the whole situation. It was like a dream going on without me being involved,' he said.

He told his barrister Simon Kealey he was not aware there was a firearm in the Audi and he did not know initially that Mr Yaqub had been shot. His solicitor told him he had passed away.

Butlin said he had suffered mental health problems for many years, including paranoia and depression. After the shooting: 'I was very paranoid. I was in shock and disbelief.'

The trial continues.