Two men have been jailed for life after murdering a semi-professional footballer on a nightclub dancefloor in Birmingham.

Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter fatally stabbed Cody Fisher on Boxing Day in 2022 after a minor altercation two days earlier.

Gordon will serve a minimum of 26 years, while Carpenter will spend at least 25 years behind bars.

During the trial, jurors were told that Mr Fisher had made brief and “unavoidable” contact with Mr Gordon’s back as he left a club in Solihull on Christmas Eve.

The 23-year-old – who played for Stratford Town and Bromsgrove Sporting – was stabbed in the chest at the Crane nightclub in Digbeth and died at the scene from a chest wound.

He was attacked with a weapon that had been smuggled through security, in what was described as a pre-planned “act of retribution”.

Gordon and Carpenter, who had denied the charges against them, had blamed each other for the fatal stabbing and were convicted last month.

In a victim impact statement, Cody’s mother Tracey said his family’s “life sentences” started on the day he was killed, which she described as the “most heartbreaking day in all of our lives”.

She described her son as “brave, fearless and the most genuine soul” she knew.

Addressing Gordon and Carpenter, she said there can “never be any forgiveness for what they have done to us”.

Ms Fisher added: “It is as though I too was stabbed straight through the heart. I have seen myself go from the happiest outgoing person, to fighting the hell out of just getting through each and every horrendous, never ending, day, in the abhorrent knowledge that my youngest son, my best friend, is never coming home to sleep in his bedroom, the room that I still cannot enter even to this day.”

The Crane nightclub has been permanently shut down after West Midlands Police said the venue posed “terrifying risks” to the public, with “blatant” drug use and “inadequate” security.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

‘Supermoon’ in UK skies this week – here’s when you can see it ‘It should be classed as kidnap’: Parliament set to debate proposals to make it easier to find stolen pets ‘Olympic gold seemed a million miles off’: How Tom Dean battled back from COVID to win big in Tokyo Family raising money to bring home teacher who fell from balcony South London murder equals highest ever annual number of teenage homicides in the capital Greenpeace stages protest to block oil tanker from docking Greek pilot who claimed his British wife was killed by intruders convicted of her killing ‘Pure evil’ man jailed for murder of teenager who rejected sexual advances Former MP ‘tried to claim taxpayers’ cash to fund significant cocaine habit’ Klimt portrait becomes most expensive artwork auctioned in Europe, selling for £85.3m Nearly 300,000 people living in multi-faith households Hunt for teenage suspect after ‘chemical’ attack on woman