Cody Fisher: Two men jailed for footballer's Birmingham nightclub murder

Two men have been jailed for life for the murder of a footballer who was stabbed on a nightclub dance floor.

Cody Fisher, 23, was attacked by a masked group at the Crane club in Birmingham, where more than 2,000 people were inside.

Remy Gordon, 23, and Kami Carpenter, 22, were found guilty of murder following a 10-week trial.

Gordon has been sentenced to a minimum of 26 years in prison while Carpenter must serve a minimum of 25 years.

In her victim impact statement, Mr Fisher's mother described her son as an angel who never had a bad bone in his body.

Tracey Fisher said: "We started our life sentences a little over 12 months ago.

"Since this horrendous day, I feel my own life has ended, as if I too was stabbed straight through the heart."

Before passing sentence, Judge Paul Farrer KC described the fatal nightclub attack, saying it lasted no more than 37 seconds.

Mr Fisher was surrounded and his phone was slapped out of his hand by Kami Carpenter, who then headbutted him.

A group of masked men threw a series of punches and kicks at their victim, including a blow to the face which fractured the back of his jaw, on both sides.

The judge said the attack only ended when Carpenter stabbed Mr Fisher in the chest.

"In short, this was a sustained attack on a man who was significantly outnumbered and stood little or no chance of defending himself," he said.

The trial heard that Cody Fisher died because he brushed past Gordon at a busy bar on Christmas Eve and did not apologise.

Cody's best friend Dan Vann, who was with him, said the incident at Popworld in Solihull was so minor they thought nothing more of it.

"Literally nothing happened," he said. They had "just gently tapped this kid on the back" as they walked out to leave.

'Frustrated and embarrassed'

But Gordon wanted revenge and spent the next 48 hours trying to find out who they were.

Judge Paul Farrer KC said: "Instead of shrugging off what was obviously an accident Remy Gordon chose to take offence and became immediately aggressive.

"Mr Gordon's attempt to bully Cody Fisher failed and he was left frustrated and embarrassed."

The judge told Birmingham Crown Court that Carpenter started the fight and was most likely responsible for stabbing Mr Fisher.

He said Carpenter slapped a drink out of Mr Fisher's hand and headbutted him.

"The attack ended when Kami Carpenter stabbed Cody Fisher in the chest," Judge Farrer said.

He noted the blow with the knife was delivered left handed, adding: "Carpenter is left handed."

In explaining the minimum terms he chose to give to Gordon and Carpenter, the judge told Gordon he was "essentially the leader" of his group.

He said while he did not deliver the knife blow himself, "it was you that planned and drove this attack".

Turning to Carpenter he said he had either brought the knife into the club himself, or was handed it by someone else.

"You used it to stab Cody Fisher," he said, continuing that the choice of weapon and way it was used indicated that he intended to kill Mr Fisher.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Fisher said her best friend was never coming home and that she still could not enter Cody's bedroom.

"We miss him every single minute of every day," she said. "Cody Fisher was brave, fierce, and the most genuine soul I know."

She also said she told her son never to let anyone bully him, adding: "He was only doing what his mom told him to do."

Ms Fisher said she had not been present at the trial as "it will not put Cody back in our lives".

To have to see her son's killers and "listen to their abhorrent lies" was "too much for a mother to bear", she said in her statement.

"There can never be any forgiveness for what they have done to us."

A victim impact statement was also read out from Mr Fisher's girlfriend Jess Chatwin.

She was with him at the nightclub on the night he was murdered and described "holding him as he took his last breaths and died in my arms".

In a previous interview with the BBC, she said: "I needed to tell him I loved him as he lay dying".

In her statement, she described him as "the love of my life, my friend and my soulmate" and spoke about how they had made plans for the following year and hoped to spend the rest of their lives together.

The murder has also had a "huge impact" on her mental health, she said, adding that she was taking medication for anxiety and depression.

Ms Chatwin said she struggled to go out with friends and was scared to even go to the local shop by herself.

She said she replayed the murder "every single night before I sleep" and often in her dreams.

"I no longer live the life I once had because they took that from me," she said.

"I hate the life I have to live now."

A third man, Reegan Anderson, 19, who was found not guilty of murder but guilty of affray - a charge relating to fighting in public - was given a sentence of 18 months.

This was in relation to an attack at the Crane club on Mr Fisher's friend, Dan Vann.

However, because the time he has spent in prison awaiting trial has to be taken into account, he will now be released.

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