Morsi and 128 defendants were accused of plotting jail breaks and attacks on police during the uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Sitting in a caged dock, Morsi raised his fist in anger and defiance when the judge read the verdict.

Most of the other defendants were tried in absentia. This includes prominent Islamic cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi who resides in Qatar.

Under Egyptian law, death sentences are passed on to the Mufti who plays an advisory role as the government’s interpreter of Islamic law.

The court will pronounce its final decision on June 2. Morsi was spared the death sentence on the first two trials that finished on May 14, in which the court sentenced 16 defendants to death on espionage charges.

They had been charged with colluding with foreign forces, the Palestinian Hamas and Iran to destabilise Egypt.

Morsi has already been sentenced to 20 years in jail for ordering the arrest and torture of protestors during his time in power.

He was deposed by the military in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule. Since then authorities have banned his Muslim Brotherhood movement and arrested thousands of his supporters.

Morsi supporters claim the cases against him are politically motivated and attempts to give legal cover to a coup, while he has rejected the authority of the courts.

Morsi was Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, however, protests against him began less than a year into his rule after he issued a decree giving himself far reaching powers.

Convictions are still open to appeal, even if the Grand Mufti gives his approval to the death sentence.