A British boxer was convicted today of murdering a Spanish teenager after a small dispute on the Costa del Sol in 2020.
Lewis Briggs, 24, hung his head as he was found guilty of jumping from his Mercedes and fatally stabbing his “helpless” victim in a “surprise” attack after turning around and chasing him after a confrontation moments earlier.
Ulrich Pérez’s family was not in the Malaga courtroom at the end of the six-day trial to hear the 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 after hearing that 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 a majority of 8 to 1 that it had been proven that Briggs murdered 19-year-old Ulrich near his home in Diana Park, between the resort towns of Marbella and Estepona, when his victim was returning from running an errand. for his mother.
A British boxer was today convicted of murdering Spanish teenager Ulrich Pérez (pictured) following a dispute on the Costa del Sol.
Nine jurors decided by an 8-1 majority that 24-year-old Lewis Briggs (pictured) had been proven to have murdered Ulrich.
Lewis Briggs, 24, hung his head as he was found guilty of jumping from his Mercedes and fatally stabbing his “helpless” victim in a “surprise” attack.
The jury foreman announced 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 changed the license plates on his rented Mercedes with British plates. after his horrific crime by Tries to mislead the police.
Ulrich died after being kicked and then stabbed in the heart shortly after 2:30 p.m. on November 18, 2020. He had reprimanded Briggs less than two minutes earlier for driving too fast toward a zebra crossing he was at. .
The expatriate, who said he boxed professionally after taking the stand on the first day of his trial last Monday, claimed he accidentally stabbed his victim despite admitting that he turned around and got out of his car with a knife he pulled from your glove compartment.
But the jury foreman, rejecting Briggs’s defense attorney’s closing statement that a manslaughter conviction and a 15-month prison sentence would be the correct decision, said: “We find it demonstrated by a majority of 8 to 1 that the accused kicked his victim and stabbed her in a surprise and unexpected attack from which he had no chance to defend himself.’
He added: “The victim was not prepared for the attack and the evidence was that he still had a shopping bag in his hand.
“He didn’t let go of the bag until the other man kicked him before stabbing him in the left side.
“The attack from the time the defendant exited his car to the time he got back into his vehicle and drove away only lasted about 10 seconds.”
Prosecutor Pablo Ibáñez reacted to the guilty verdict by asking Judge Francisco Javier Soler, who reserved the sentence, that Briggs be sentenced to 22 years in prison for murder and another two years for fraud by replacing the license plates of his Mercedes with those of a neighbor of the apartment block where he lived before fleeing Spain and sparking an international persecution.
Rocío Amigo, a private lawyer for the deceased’s family who prosecuted the British in the same trial, demanded similar prison sentences with the same 22 years for murder.
Ulrich Pérez’s mother, Tatiana Pérez Martínez, 43, and his father, Juan Carlos Espinoza, 46.
Ulrich’s mother and his sister April, 25 years old.
Lewis Briggs, right, is seen wearing a white shirt in court last week.
Briggs’ attorney, Ana María Hidalgo Pérez, asked the judge, who warned the convicted murderer in open court that he would receive “at least 15 years,” to sentence him to the minimum sentences for each crime.
His attempts to extend his pretrial release, following his release from prison early last year after two years on remand, were rejected after prosecutors persuaded Judge Briggs that he posed a “high flight risk.” after the jury’s verdict.
Ulrich’s family had to watch security camera images showing the murder during the trial at the Provincial Court of 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 to his victim’s family from the stand shortly after the trial began and told them: ‘I want to say sorry. It was never my intention to kill anyone. It was an accident after claiming he had been using alcohol and cocaine at an all-night party before the murder and was not “thinking clearly.”
Although he admitted killing his victim in a “stupid mistake”, he blamed his late father in court for stealing his neighbour’s number plates and arranging to ship his Merc back to the UK before helping him flee Spain via from Portugal.
He also used his time on the stand to present his victim as the most aggressive man on the day of the murder.
Briggs, arrested in December 2020 near Leeds after a five-week international manhunt and extradited to Spain, is said to have often boxed at the MGM gym.
It has now closed after being renamed the MTK Marbella gym, but welcomed stars including Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and was closely linked to Irish crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan, who is currently hiding in Dubai.
Former trainee chef Ulrich’s mother, Tatiana Pérez Martínez, said through tears during her court testimony: “My son left our house because I sent him to buy some washing powder 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 a good thing that had happened.
“A neighbor told me that something had happened to Ulrich and since I knew he was a little clumsy, at first I thought he had fallen down the stairs and broken a bone.
“When I got to the street it was full of police and I saw someone on top of him trying to revive him.”
Ulrich’s father, Juan Carlos Espinoza, born in Nicaragua, reacted to today’s verdict by saying this afternoon: ‘Today is a day when justice has been done.
“I hope he receives the longest prison sentence possible. And that he suffers whatever he has to suffer in prison.
The family’s lawyer told the court: “I am satisfied with the outcome.”
Briggs, who also faces an order to pay Ulrich’s mother up to €300,000 (the equivalent of £250,000) in compensation, is expected to appeal after the sentence.
The date for the sentencing ruling has not yet been announced, which will be notified in writing and not in a public hearing.