British boxer admits stabbing Spanish teenager to death for 'road aggression' as murder trial reveals he 'chased' victim who 'insulted his girlfriend' during argument at pedestrian crossing

A British boxer made a dramatic confession to stabbing a Spanish teenager to death at the start of his Costa del Sol murder trial for “road aggression” today, before sparking an international manhunt.

Lewis Briggs, 24, turned on the witness stand and told his victim's family, who were sitting directly behind him and almost within arm's reach: “I want to apologize. It was never my intention to kill anyone. It was an accident.”

The 25-year-old sister Abril, of the murdered 19-year-old Ulrich Perez, collapsed and had to be consoled by her distraught father Juan Carlos Espinoza in front of the nine jurors in the Audiencia Provincial Court in Malaga.

The tense situation arose after the British expat claimed he had made “the worst stupid mistake of my life” by confronting Ulrich with a knife hidden in his hand, which he had grabbed from the glove compartment of his rented Mercedes after an exchange of words moments earlier on a zebra crossing.

The young Spaniard collapsed and died after Briggs kicked and punched him and then stabbed him in the heart shortly after 2.30pm on November 18, 2020, as he walked back to his home in Diana Park, near Marbella, from his mother's supermarket.

Ulrich Perez collapsed and died after Briggs kicked and punched him and then stabbed him in the heart shortly after 2:30 p.m. on November 18, 2020

The following month, he was detained near Leeds on a European Arrest Warrant after allegedly attempting to throw police off his trail by attaching a stolen number plate to the Mercedes and arranging for it to be returned to England before fleeing Spain and returning to the UK via Portugal.

The confessed killer, who faces more than 23 years in prison if convicted, including one of the most serious types of murder under Spanish law, used his time on the witness stand to claim he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs after a night of heavy drinking and portrayed his victim as the more aggressive man.

He answered “yes” both times during cross-examination by prosecutor Pablo Ibanez when asked, “Were you involved in an incident with a pedestrian that day?” and “Did you turn around, get out of your car with a knife and stab him?”

Rocio Amigo, a private attorney representing his victim's family and also prosecuting Briggs in the same case, interrupted him when he insisted that he “stopped almost immediately” after accusing Ulrich of insulting his girlfriend in the passenger seat and running after her Mercedes.

She said a video recording of the crime, which jurors would view later in the trial, would show that almost two minutes had passed between the first incident and the subsequent physical assault and fatal knife attack after the Briton returned to “hunt” him.

Briggs, whose defence lawyer said at the start of today's hearing that she would accept a prison sentence of just over three and a half years for her client, claimed under cross-examination: “I remember kicking him and him grabbing me by the leg and then the collar of my top and trying to pull me to the ground.”

Ulrich Perez' mother Tatiana Perez Martinez, 43, and his father Juan Carlos Espinoza, 46

“So I hit him a few times and suddenly I saw the blood. I had a small knife in my hand that had a button to open it, but I didn't want to use it or cause him any serious harm.

“I only grabbed it because I could see in the rearview mirror that he had his hand in his pocket as he ran behind my car and I didn't know why. Everything happened so fast. I couldn't think properly.”

He denied stealing a neighbour's number plates after the crime and blamed it on his father, who died while on remand in a Spanish prison after being extradited in January 2021. He claimed his late father also organised the return of the rented Mercedes to the UK and helped him escape Spain by finding a friend to drive him to Portugal, where he bought a plane ticket to England.

In her shifting testimony, which was marked by her difficulty in controlling her emotions, the tearful mother of former cooking apprentice Ulrich, Tatiana Perez Martinez (43), said after taking the stand in court following the Briton's confession: “My son left our home because I sent him to buy dishwashing liquid that we needed.”

Perez's sister Abril, 25, collapsed and had to be consoled as she attended the trial

“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 bit clumsy, I first thought he had fallen on the stairs and broken a bone.

“When I reached the street, it was full of police officers and I saw someone above him trying to resuscitate him.”

The mother of three added: “Ulrich's older sister woke up screaming for the next six months. She couldn't sleep alone.”

“My youngest son Dylan, who is six, still comes home from school and says 'Hello Ulrich.'”

Despite Briggs' confession, the trial will continue. The jury will have to decide whether he is guilty of simple manslaughter or of aggravated murder under Spanish law. This will determine the length of his prison sentence.

He is said to have often boxed at the MGM gym, which has since closed after being renamed the MTK Marbella Gym, but welcomed stars such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and had close links to Irish crime boss Daniel Kinahan, who is currently hiding out in Dubai.

Lewis Briggs (right) wears a white shirt in court today

Private prosecutors representing his victim's family say the well-built Briggs, who admitted in court today that he was a personal trainer who taught his clients to box and who claimed to have fought professionally, used his knowledge to launch a surprise attack on his “tall but thin, 110-pound victim” that left him no chance to defend himself.

They are seeking a total sentence of just over 23 years in prison for him if he is found guilty of murder and crimes related to the theft and use of stolen license plates on the Mercedes.

The prosecution is demanding a total prison sentence of 16 years, including 14 years for the fatal knife attack, which they believe was the result of the “intention to end Ulrich's life”.

Briggs' defense attorney Ana Maria Hidalgo Perez said in court today that she believes a prison sentence of just three years and eight months is the appropriate punishment for an incident that she alleges Ulrich provoked and that ended with a stupid act by her “feebleminded” client.

In her opening speech to the court, she urged the nine-member jury to consider mitigating circumstances, including the Briton's cocaine use before the crime, his confession today and the compensation of over POUND 40,000 he had agreed to pay to his victim's family.

The picture shows a general view of the Malaga Court where the trial is taking place.

To avoid the waiting photographers, the expat first covered his face with his hand and then with his lawyer's jacket as he left the courthouse.

After the end of the first day of the hearing, Ulrich's angry father said on the steps of the courthouse: “I don't believe a word of what my son's murderer says. His apology means nothing.”

“He speaks perfect Spanish because he has lived in Spain since he was a child. He has an English accent and pretends that his Spanish is worse than it actually is.

“He can try to sugarcoat it all he wants, but I am convinced that it will be proven that it was a cold-blooded murder.

“The fact that he is willing to blame his dead father, his own flesh and blood, for helping him escape, even though he is not here to defend himself in court, shows what kind of man he is.”

The trial, which is scheduled to end early next week, will continue tomorrow.