A BRITISH boxer was today convicted of murdering a Spanish teenager following a petty Costa del Sol ‘road rage’ spat.
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.
SolarpixBrit Lewis Harry Briggs was today convicted of murdering a Spanish teenager[/caption]
Ulrich Perez’s family were not in the courtroom in Malaga at the end of the six-day-long trial to hear jurors return their verdict just over 24 hours after they were sent out to deliberate.
But the Brit expat’s mum Michelle burst into tears after hearing her son could be jailed for nearly 25 years in the coming days as two plain-clothes police officers led him into custody pending sentencing.
The nine jurors ruled by a 8-1 majority it had been proven Briggs murdered Ulrich, 19, near his home in Diana Park between Marbella and Estepona as his victim returned from running an errand for his mum.
The jury foreman announced in a short address to the court they had also unanimously concluded the personal trainer had changed the number plates on his rented UK-plated Mercedes after his horror crime to try to throw police off the scent.
Ulrich died after being kicked and then stabbed in the heart just after 2.30pm on November 18 2020.
He had berated Briggs less than two minutes earlier for driving too fast towards a zebra crossing he was standing by.
The expat, who said he had boxed professionally after taking the stand on the first day of his trial last Monday, claimed he accidentally stabbed his victim despite admitting to turning round and getting out of his car with a knife he took from his glove compartment.
But the jury foreman said: “We find it proven by an 8-1 majority the accused kicked his victim and stabbed him in a surprise and unexpected attack he had no chance of defending himself against.”
He added: “The victim wasn’t prepared for the attack and the proof was that he had 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 his left side.
“The attack from the moment the defendant got out of his car to the moment he got back into his vehicle and drove away only lasted about 10 seconds.”
Public prosecutor Pablo Ibanez reacted to the guilty verdict by asking judge Francisco Javier Soler, who reserved sentencing, to jail Briggs for 22 years for murder and another two years for fraud.
This is for replacing his Mercedes number plates with those of a neighbour in the apartment block where he lived before fleeing Spain and sparking an international manhunt.
Briggs’ lawyer Ana Maria Hidalgo Perez asked the judge, who warned the convicted killer in open court he would get “at least 15 years”, to sentence him to the minimum terms for each crime.
Her attempts to extend his pre-trial conditional bail were refused after the prosecutors persuaded the judge Briggs represented a “high flight risk” following the jury verdict.
Ulrich’s family had to sit through CCTV footage showing the murder during the trial at the Audiencia Provincial Court in Malaga.
The footage is believed to have played a key role in the jury verdict along with a police report into the crime.
Briggs turned round to his victim’s family from the stand soon after the start of the trial and said to them: “I want to say sorry. It was never my intention to kill anyone. It was an accident”.
This was after claiming he had been binging on alcohol and cocaine at an all-night party before the murder and wasn’t “thinking straight.”
Although he admitted to killing his victim in a “stupid error” he blamed his late dad in court for stealing his neighbour’s number plates and arranging to have his Merc shipped back to the UK before helping him flee Spain via Portugal.
He also used his time on the stand to paint his victim as the more aggressive man on the day of the murder.
Briggs, held in December 2020 near Leeds after a five-week international manhunt and extradited to Spain, is said to have boxed often at the MGM gym.
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