British man finally faces trial for killing a teenager following road rage incident in Estepona

After four years of waiting, the family of young Ulrich is about to see his alleged killer in the dock. He is accused of stabbing him to death after a senseless traffic argument in Estepona. The trial, in which the defendant faces up to 23 years in prison, will be held at the end of September and is expected to conclude in October.

The assault took place at 2pm on 18 November 2020. Ulrich, who had turned 19 three months earlier, left his home to go to the supermarket to buy detergent to do the laundry.

Ulrich was stabbed to death at the entrance to the Las Acacias housing estate, where the family lives. He was allegedly killed by a 21-year-old British man whom he had confronted because he was driving too fast as he crossed the pedestrian crossing.

The prosecution claims that the two young men exchanged a few words after Ulrich ran after the car to reprimand the driver. Seconds later, said the public prosecutor's office, "The accused got out of the vehicle and, after a struggle with Ulrich, and with the intention of ending his life, kicked him in the chest and stabbed him."

The private prosecution, which is being brought by the family, has raised the charge to murder. It argues that he assaulted him “without a word”. “He used a fighting technique due to his knowledge of boxing, because he is a personal trainer.”

"After several punches, with sufficient force to lift him from the floor like a doll, taking advantage of the fact that he had already left him badly wounded and with no possibility of countering the surprise attack, he used the knife with the precise and accurate blow of someone who knows how to cause death, stabbing him in the heart," the private prosecution claimed.

Ulrich had no possibility of defending himself, according to the family's legal representation, which stresses that the defendant allegedly used his fists to "knock out a boy who weighed less than 63 kilos".

The British man fled the scene after the stabbing and left Spain following "a conscientious premeditated plan of concealment and flight", according to the private prosecutor, which added: "He got rid of the knife, took his girlfriend to his parents' house, returned to his home, cleaned the car, stole some number plates from the garage on his housing estate, changed them to avoid his vehicle being identified, commissioned a transport company to move the vehicle to England, and escaped to the UK by plane via Portugal, where he remained on the run from justice until he was arrested ."

The prosecution team is asking for a 16-year prison sentence for the murder and for stealing the number plates to falsify those of the Mercedes. The private prosecution, on the other hand, is raising the request for a sentence of 23 and a half years in prison, considering that it was murder or, alternatively, aggravated homicide.

The accused awaits his trial while free. He remained behind bars from December 2020 until Christmas Eve 2022. The court allowed him to leave prison at the end of his two-year pre-trial detention and ignored the private prosecution's requests for an extension, despite the fact that the law provides for this possibility up to a maximum of four years.

Ulrich's mother, Tatiana, is of Nicaraguan origin. She arrived in Spain 23 years ago, when Abril - the young man's older sister - was only eight months old. Shortly after that, he was born. His father decided to name him Ulrich after the drummer of Metallica, his favourite band. The couple separated a couple of years later and Tatiana, who earns her living as a domestic worker, rebuilt her life with a Spanish chef who has helped her raise her children and with whom she has become a mother again.