A British boxer was today convicted of the murder of a Spanish teenager after a minor ‘road rage’ row on the Costa del Sol in 2020.
Lewis Briggs, 24, hung his head as he was found guilty of jumping out of his Mercedes and fatally stabbing his ‘defenceless’ victim in a ‘surprise attack’ after turning and chasing him after a collision moments earlier.
Ulrich Perez’s family was not in the courtroom in Malaga at the end of the six-day trial to hear jurors deliver their verdict, just over 24 hours after they were sent to deliberate.
But the British expat’s mother, Michelle, broke down in tears when she heard her son could be jailed for almost 25 years in the coming days as two plainclothes police officers took him into custody awaiting sentencing.
The nine jurors ruled by an 8-1 majority that it was proven that Briggs had murdered 19-year-old Ulrich near his home in Diana Park, between the seaside resorts of Marbella and Estepona, as his victim returned from an errand for his mother.
A British boxer was today convicted of the murder of Spanish teenager Ulrich Perez (pictured) after a ‘road rage’ row on the Costa del Sol
Nine jurors ruled by an 8-1 majority and it was proven that Lewis Briggs, 24 (pictured), had killed Ulrich
Lewis Briggs, 24, hung his head as he was found guilty of jumping out of his Mercedes and fatally stabbing his ‘defenceless’ victim in a ‘surprise attack’
The jury foreman revealed in a brief speech to the court that they had also unanimously concluded that the personal trainer, who boxed at a gym linked to Irish crime boss Daniel Kinahan, had painted the number plates of his rented Mercedes with British license plate changed after his horror crime to try to get the police off the smell.
Ulrich died after being kicked and then stabbed in the heart just after 2:30 PM on November 18, 2020. He had berated Briggs less than two minutes earlier for driving too fast toward a crosswalk where he was standing.
The expat, who said he had boxed professionally after appearing on the first day of his trial last Monday, claimed he accidentally stabbed his victim despite admitting he turned around and got out of his car with a knife he had taken from his glove compartment.
But the jury foreman, who dismissed Briggs’ defense attorney’s closing speech and argued that a manslaughter conviction and a 15-month prison sentence would be the right decision, said: “We find it proven by a majority of 8-1 that the defendant killed his victim kicked and stabbed him in the body. a surprising and unexpected attack against which he could not defend himself.’
He added: “The victim was unprepared for the attack and evidence was that he still had a shopping bag in his hand.
‘He only let go of the bag when the other man kicked him and then stabbed him in the left side.
“The attack from the time the suspect got out of his car to the time he got back into his vehicle and drove away lasted only approximately 10 seconds.”
Prosecutor Pablo Ibanez responded to the guilty verdict by asking Judge Francisco Javier Soler, who reserved sentencing, to give Briggs 22 years in prison for murder and an additional two years for fraud for replacing his Mercedes license plates with those of a neighbor in the apartment building where he lived before fleeing Spain, sparking an international manhunt.
Rocio Amigo, a private lawyer who acted for the dead man’s family and who prosecuted the Briton as part of the same trial, sought similar prison sentences with the same 22-year sentence for murder.
Ulrich Perez’s mother Tatiana Perez Martinez, 43, and his father Juan Carlos Espinoza, 46
Ulrich’s mother and sister Abril, 25
Lewis Briggs was seen in court last week wearing a white shirt
Briggs’ attorney Ana Maria Hidalgo Perez asked the judge, who warned the convicted killer in open court that he would get “at least 15 years,” to sentence him to the minimum sentence for each crime.
Her attempts to extend his pre-trial conditional bail, following his release from prison early last year after two years on remand, were rejected after prosecutors were convinced Judge Briggs posed a ‘high flight risk’ following the jury’s verdict .
Ulrich’s family had to watch CCTV footage showing the murder during the trial at Audiencia provincial court in Malaga. The footage is believed to have played a key role in the jury’s verdict, along with a police report into the crime.
Briggs turned from the witness stand to his victim’s family shortly after the start of the trial and told them: ‘I want to say sorry. It was never my intention to kill anyone. It was an accident’ after he claimed he had binged on alcohol and cocaine at an all-night party before the murder and was ‘not thinking straight’.
Although he admitted killing his victim with a ‘stupid mistake’, he accused his late father in court of stealing his neighbour’s number plates and arranging for his Merc to be returned to Britain before he took it helped escape Spain via Portugal.
He also used his time on the stand to portray his victim as the more aggressive man on the day of the murder.
Briggs, who was detained near Leeds in December 2020 after a five-week international manhunt and extradited to Spain, is said to have often boxed at the MGM gym.
It is now closed after being rebranded as the MTK Marbella gym, but welcomed stars such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and was closely linked to Irish crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan, who is currently holed up in Dubai.
Former chef Ulrich’s tearful mother, Tatiana Perez Martinez, said during her court testimony: “My son left our house because I sent him to buy some dish soap that we needed.
‘I had grounded him a few days earlier because he had lost his ID and given the Covid restrictions still in place I didn’t think it was right that this had happened.
‘A neighbor told me something had happened to Ulrich and because I knew he was a bit clumsy, I at first thought he had fallen on the stairs and broken a bone.
‘When I reached the street it was full of police and I saw someone trying to revive him.’
Ulrich’s Nicaragua-born father, Juan Carlos Espinoza, responded to the verdict this afternoon, saying: “Today is a day that justice was done.
‘I hope he gets the longest prison sentence possible. And let him suffer what he has to suffer in prison.”
The family’s lawyer said outside court: “I am satisfied with the outcome.”
Briggs, who is also ordered to pay Ulrich’s mother compensation of up to 300,000 euros (the equivalent of £250,000), is expected to appeal after the conviction.
No date has yet been set for the sentencing. This will be communicated in writing instead of in open court.