Cody Fisher: Killers' sentences considered for review

The Attorney General is considering whether judges should review the sentences of two men who were convicted of murdering a footballer on a nightclub dance floor.

Cody Fisher, 23, was attacked and fatally stabbed by a masked group at the Crane nightclub in Birmingham on 26 December 2022.

Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter were given life sentences with a minimum of 26 years and 25 years respectively, on 8 April, after being found guilty of Mr Fisher's murder.

However, the BBC has been told the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has received a referral arguing Gordon and Carpenter's sentences were too lenient.

A spokesman for Attorney General Victoria Prentis confirmed the two men's sentences had been referred under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme and they were under consideration.

Law officers have 28 days from the date of sentencing to carry out a review and weigh up whether to refer the case to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the sentence was appropriate.

This creates a deadline of 6 May.

Under the ULS scheme, anyone can ask for a crown court sentence to be reviewed if they think it is too short.

The trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard Mr Fisher, who had played for a number of non-league Midlands clubs, including Stratford Town and Bromsgrove Sporting, died because he brushed past Gordon at a busy bar on Christmas Eve and did not apologise.

His 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.

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.

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".

The judge 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 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.

Cody Fisher's girlfriend, Jess Chatwin, 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 an interview with the BBC, Ms Chatwin said: "I'm never going to get over something so horrific.

"To watch that happen to anybody is horrendous, but then to have to watch the person you love go through something like that, and then to be told he's been murdered and have to touch the knife that they've stabbed him with, I don't think I'd ever ever be able to move on from that.

"They're still here and they still get to have a life, in a sense, whereas they've taken Cody's life away from him.

"So I don't think you ever really get any justice because you don't get the person you lost back."

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."

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."

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

A special documentary about Cody Fisher is available on iPlayer as part of the BBC's The Big Cases series.

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