Two men have been found guilty of murdering footballer Cody Fisher, who was stabbed to death in 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 wound to his chest.
A 10-week trial was told Mr Fisher was attacked with a gun smuggled through security into Digbeth’s Crane nightclub before a pre-planned “act of revenge” for a minor incident two days earlier.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court were told Gordon, of Cofton Park Drive, Birmingham, carried out the “terrible revenge” after Mr Fisher made brief “inevitable” contact with his back as he left a club in Solihull on Christmas Eve.
Gordon, 23, was also found guilty of affray, while Carpenter, 22, of Owens Croft, Kings Norton, was found not guilty of the same charge by a majority of 10 to 1, who was found guilty of murder. Crane, regarding an attack on a friend of Mr. Fisher’s.
Co-defendant Reegan Anderson, 19, of Brookvale Park Road, Erdington, was found not guilty of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter, but was found guilty of affray and released on bail until a sentencing hearing after Easter.
Some family members in the public gallery left the courtroom in tears when they heard the verdicts announced Monday afternoon after jurors deliberated for more than 28 hours.
Prosecutor Michael Duck KC, who opened the case against the trio in January, told jurors: “The prosecution says these three were part of a joint attack in which each of them had knives or knew of their existence.”
The court heard Mr Fisher, 23, was stabbed in the chest, penetrating a valve in his heart and was pronounced dead at the scene, while a close friend of the victim was chased and kicked but managed to get up and escape. .
Explaining the alleged motivation for the murder, Mr Duck said: “The prosecution say this was a joint and planned attack involving extreme violence.
“It was no coincidence that Cody Fisher was attacked. This wasn’t a moment of anger; It was a planned act of revenge.”
Mr Duck said the jury may struggle to grasp the possible motive behind the attack, adding: “Cody Fisher’s death appears to have been related to a minor disagreement he had with Remy Gordon approximately 48 hours before his death.”
Mr Duck said the earlier incident took place at the Popworld club in Solihull.
“It was packed,” Mr. Duck said of the venue.
“The inevitable result is that people come into contact with each other in this type of environment.
“This is absolutely inevitable.
“That night, Cody Fisher and Remy Gordon had a brief reunion.
“Cody Fisher (and his close friend, who was later chased into the Crane nightclub) were heading for the exit.
“They definitely had to go through a crowd of people. Tragically, among that crowd was Remy Gordon.
“Apparently there was brief contact between Cody Fisher and Remy Gordon’s back.
“Cody Fisher appears to have done nothing but touch Remy Gordon’s back. Remy Gordon wanted to argue with someone.”
Referring to social media messages subsequently sent by Gordon, Mr Duck told the jury: “It is clear from the evidence that Mr Gordon decided to challenge Cody Fisher rather than accept that there was no ill intent.”
The court heard that because he had done nothing wrong and had been threatened with violence, Mr Fisher was not prepared to apologize and left the club with his friend.
Mr Duck said of Gordon: “He was determined to exact revenge that would eventually lead to the loss of Cody Fisher’s young life at the Crane nightclub.
“The strength of his anger is evident from messages sent approximately 50 minutes after the encounter at Popworld.
“He was quite embarrassed and disappointed that he couldn’t scare a member of the public.”
It is alleged Gordon sent Snapchat messages to friends about 45 minutes after the initial incident, appealing for help identifying a photo showing Mr Fisher and threatening to “smash him up”.
“The prosecution says that within three quarters of an hour of that little incident at Popworld you saw how Remy Gordon felt about it and what he planned 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 ground after being stabbed in the chest and leg was also shown to the court, as well as another video showing part of the attack on his friend.
After the footage was shown to the jury, Mr Duck held up the “savage” knife, contained in a clear plastic box, used to kill Mr Fisher so the jury could see its size.
Explaining what he described as “one of the gruesome details of the case”, Mr Duck told the jury: “The gun was seized; it was seized by medical staff when they came to treat him and it was still embedded in his chest at the time.” lie on the floor.”
Jurors were shown CCTV footage 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.
One message mentioned “bale” while another asked “can I get a stalk in there”.
A third electronic conversation, which allegedly showed Gordon’s “malicious intent,” stated that Gordon was “trying to kill someone.”
Mr Duck said: “Mr Gordon was considering a disguise. He was debating which weapons would enter the building. And he was thinking of revisiting the events of Christmas Eve with Mr. Fisher.
“Jurors felt that no matter how frightening the synopsis of the scenario was, the prosecution says it was the only reasonable analysis of what happened.”
The court was also told that a mutual friend of one of the defendants and Mr Fisher suggested that he and the semi-professional footballer leave the Crane nightclub due to Gordon’s presence at the venue.
“Cody Fisher stated that he was not prepared to leave the building and be intimidated in this manner,” Mr. Duck said.
Judge Paul Farrer remanded Carpenter and Gordon in custody to await sentencing after the Easter bank holiday.
He thanked the jurors for their service and exempted them from jury service for 20 years.
West Midlands Police Inspector Michelle Thurgood, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement after the verdicts were announced: “The absolute tragedy of this case is how trivial the motive was.
“This is the sort of thing that most sensible people would ignore and move on, but Remy Gordon made a real exception for reasons only he can explain.
“It was a chance meeting between two men who did not know each other and had no reason to fall out.
“Cody’s life was cut tragically short and it had a devastating impact on his family and friends.”