Two men have been found guilty of murdering footballer Cody Fisher, who was stabbed to death inside a Birmingham nightclub on Boxing Day in 2022.
Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter had blamed each other for stabbing the 23-year-old former Birmingham City academy player, who died at the scene from a chest wound.
A 10-week trial was told Mr Fisher was attacked with a weapon smuggled through security into Digbeth’s Crane nightclub before a pre-planned “act of retribution” for a minor incident two days earlier.
Gordon, 23, was also found guilty of affray, while 22-year-old Carpenter, of Owens Croft, Kings Norton, who was found guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to one, was found not guilty of the same charge at the Crane, relating to an attack on a friend of Mr Fisher.
Fellow defendant Reegan Anderson, 19, of Brookvale Park Road, Erdington, was found not guilty of murder and not guilty of an alternative charge of manslaughter but guilty of affray and was bailed until a sentencing hearing after Easter.
Some family members in the public gallery cried and stormed out of the courtroom upon hearing the verdicts, which were delivered on Monday afternoon after jurors deliberated for more than 28 hours.
Mr Fisher, 23, was stabbed in the chest, penetrating a valve in his heart, and was pronounced dead at the scene, the court heard, while a close friend of the victim was chased and kicked but managed to get to his feet and escape.
Explaining the alleged motivation for the killing, Mr Duck said: “The prosecution say this was a joint and planned attack involving extreme violence.
“It was not a matter of chance that Cody Fisher was attacked. It was not a flash of temper – it was a planned act of retribution.”
The earlier incident took place at the Popworld club in Solihull, Mr Duck said.
“It was packed,” Mr Duck said of the venue.
“The inevitable consequence is that in that sort of environment people are going to come into contact with each other.
“It’s simply unavoidable.
“There was a brief coming together of Cody Fisher and Remy Gordon that night.
“Necessarily they had to move through a crowd of people. Tragically, amongst that crowd was Remy Gordon.
“There was a brief contact between Cody Fisher and Remy Gordon’s back it seems.
“Cody Fisher it seems did little more than touch Remy Gordon’s back. Remy Gordon was looking for an argument with somebody.”
Referring to social media messages subsequently sent by Gordon, Mr Duck told the jury: “It’s plain from evidence which has been obtained that rather than Mr Gordon simply acknowledging there had been no malice… he decided to challenge Cody Fisher.”
Mr Fisher was not prepared to apologise, having done nothing wrong and been threatened with violence, the court heard, and left the club with his friend.
“The strength of his resentment can be gleaned from messages sent within about 50 minutes of the encounter in Popworld.
“He felt rather embarrassed and frustrated that he had been unable to intimidate a member of the public.”
It is alleged Gordon sent messages on Snapchat to friends around 45 minutes after the initial incident, appealing for help to identify a photograph showing Mr Fisher and threatening to “shank him up”.
“The prosecution say within three-quarters of an hour of that minor incident taking place in Popworld you see the way Remy Gordon felt about it and what he intended to do about it,” Mr Duck said.
Mr Fisher, a former Birmingham City academy member who also played for Stratford Town and Bromsgrove Sporting, died at the scene.
Mobile phone footage of Mr Fisher lying on the floor after he was stabbed in the chest and leg was shown to the court, as well as further film which captured part of the attack on his friend.
After the footage was shown to the jury, Mr Duck held up the “ferocious” knife, used to kill Mr Fisher – contained in a see-through plastic box – so the jury could see its size.
Jurors were shown CCTV images of the three defendants arriving at the Crane club and copies of Snapchat messages sent between Gordon and Carpenter in the hours before they arrived there.
One message referred to a “bally” and another asked “can I get a shank in there”.
A third electronic conversation – alleged to show a “sinister intention” on the part of Gordon – said he was “looking to snuff someone”.
Mr Duck said: “Mr Gordon was intending to wear a disguise. He was debating which weapons to take into the premises. And he was intending to revisit the events of Christmas Eve with Mr Fisher.
“Terrifying as that summary of the scenario might be, members of the jury, the prosecution say it’s the only sensible analysis of what happened.”
The court was also told a mutual friend of one of the defendants and Mr Fisher had suggested that he and the semi-professional footballer leave the Crane nightclub due to Gordon’s presence at the venue.
“Cody Fisher indicated that he was not prepared to leave the premises and be intimidated in that way,” Mr Duck said.
He thanked the jurors for their service and excused them from further jury service for the period of 20 years.
In a statement released after the verdicts were handed down, West Midlands Police Det Insp Michelle Thurgood, who led the investigation, said: “The absolute tragedy of this case is just how trivial the motive was.
“It’s the kind of thing that most right-minded people would have just ignored and moved on, but Remy Gordon, for reasons only he can explain, took real exception to this.
“It was a chance brushing together of two men who did not know each other and had no reason to fall out.
“Cody’s life has been cut tragically short, and it’s had a catastrophic impact on his family and friends.”
