Story behind killer Remy Gordon - addicted to PlayStation and whose deadly ego caused world of pain

He has been jailed for no less than 26 years - more than he has lived so far - for instigating a pathetic murder of a popular footballer over a nudge in the back. Remy Gordon's fragile ego has caused a world of pain.

He may not have been the man who stabbed Cody Fisher at The Crane nightclub in Digbeth on Boxing Day 2022, but he is the one who engineered the killing. This week the 23-year-old from Cofton Park Road, Rednal received a life sentence after being found guilty of murder.

Gordon went to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Kings Norton where he met Kami Carpenter, who he would ultimately manipulate and wind up into delivering the deadly knife blow to Cody on the dancefloor. In a chilling preview of what would tragically unfold a year later, Gordon was caught with a knife at a nightclub in Manchester in December 2021.

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One barrister described it as a 'snide' blade because it was disguised in a credit card. Gordon rejected the assertion and claimed he bought it from Amazon to cut boxes and wires at work. He said it was too 'flimsy' to attack someone with and would just snap. He was ultimately convicted of possessing a bladed article but did not go to prison.

Twelve months on from that and Gordon would find himself consumed with a petty grudge that ended one life and ruined countless others, including his own. Snapchat messages helped tell the story of what happened in a devastating 48-hour period.

Many of them came from a group chat called 'Ravers Assemblers' which included around 20 or so people. They spoke about socialising, fighting, girls and playing computer games.

In the same breath they openly discussed knives as well as the level of security at pubs and clubs. By his own account Gordon considered himself one of the most popular members of the tight-knit bunch, who also referred to themselves as 'Spartans'.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve 2022 he messaged 'Wish I had a girl' as he discussed plans to go out that night. A few minutes later he told the group 'make sure everyone got their shank' in the first of many references to knives.

He ended up in Popworld, Solihull that night. Around 2am, into the early hours of the following morning, he confronted Cody Fisher and his friend Dan Vann, accusing them of pushing into him as they walked past in the busy venue. CCTV captured him in close conversation with Cody who refused to back down and accepted his challenge to go outside.

Another man intervened and diffused the situation but Gordon's ego had already been fatally bruised by then. His attempt to 'bully' Cody had failed and he was left 'frustrated and embarrassed', concluded Judge Paul Farrer KC. Within minutes he started moaning about the encounter to his Snapchat mates, including Carpenter.

Fuelled with anger he found a picture of Cody on social media and posted it to the group saying 'who knows this likkle pip squeeze', 'due to shank him up'. Gordon continued to expose his bitterness as he branded him a 'posh white yoot', which means 'youth' in the juvenile 'roadman slang' he spoke in.

He expressed his regret that he hadn't 'shanked up that geeza earlier' and also appeared fixated about Cody's neck chain as he joked about someone robbing it from him.

He continued to rant about him into Christmas Day while playing Call of Duty on the PlayStation over the internet with his friends. Gordon repeated his intention to see Cody again soon.

He said the outcome 'depends' on how he reacted but then chillingly warned he felt like he should 'Judas' him - attacking someone from behind while they are unaware. At some stage he got wind that Cody would be at The Crane on Boxing Day for a rave with a well-known DJ.

Gordon and Carpenter began speaking about getting tickets for the event as well as whether they could wear masks and hats at the venue. They also discussed if they could smuggle knives inside with Gordon offering to swap his weapon with Carpenter for the day.

He entered the nightclub after being patted down but he did not have his man bag searched. Shortly afterwards he text Carpenter to say the security was 'weak' and staff were not using a handheld 'wand' device. Gordon also messaged Cody's friend Sam Newey to confirm his own arrival in a bid to intimidate his intended target but when the message was relayed to Cody he simply laughed it off.

Inside the venue he tried to speak to Mr Newey again as he put on a 'passive aggressive' demeanor but Cody still did not take the threat seriously and refused to leave The Crane, albeit he agreed to move to a different location. Around 11.45pm Gordon, Carpenter and co-accused teenager Reegan Anderson - who was ultimately cleared of homicide offences - walked out on to the dancefloor and approached Cody.

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Again Gordon challenged him to go outside but this time Cody refused and prepared to defend himself by taking off the chain his attackers had jealously spied. But it was Carpenter who sparked bedlam by slapping his phone out of his hand and headbutting him. A brawl involving more than eight other people ensued.

Wearing a distinctive Balenciaga hoody Carpenter was spotted violently swinging his left arm at Cody. Witnesses did not realise at the time that he had been holding a black-bladed hunting knife which connected with the corresponding right side of Cody's chest and caused him to collapse. Within minutes, he was dead.

Gordon delivered a cowardly kick to Cody while he was on the ground and joined in a follow-up attack on Dan Vann who was knocked to the ground on the other side of the dancefloor. Ironically, Carpenter pulled him away but only because he saw security approaching.

Gordon went to leave but returned to the scene with two other associates. One of them retrieved the sheath to the knife, which incidentally was left embedded in Cody's body. They clumsily hid the cover underneath a road barrier outside The Crane where police recovered it.

Gordon swiftly organised a meeting at American Slice in Northfield. CCTV captured him laughing and smiling as he mimicked punching and kicking at Cody, despite knowing from social media chatter that he had likely died by that time. He showed zero regret.

Over the course of the next few hours he ran damage control, spinning a narrative that he did not know Carpenter was armed with a knife and shifting the blame firmly on to him. The one-time schoolfriends, would soon become enemies.

Ultimately, he fled to London where he was arrested while Carpenter was detained before he could catch the flight he booked to Jamaica. Gordon gave evidence at the trial. He tried to dismiss his chilling threats about 'shanking' Cody on Snapchat as 'venting' which was not to be taken literally.

Gordon, who appeared to become increasingly irritated by questions under cross-examination, denied plotting to kill him as he declared: "Why would we plan that in front of 2,000 people?"

He went on to claim Carpenter confessed the stabbing to him. Gordon tried to explain that he only fled to London himself in a 'panic' as he told the court: "I just hoped that the investigation would have been done and that the truth would come out. That I'm not the killer and he actually killed him."

He was found guilty of murdering Cody and affray in relation to the attack on Mr Vann. At his sentencing hearing his own barrister Trevor Burke KC admitted: "There is very little I can say in mitigation for him."

He added there was a 'distinct lack of maturity' as he said: "He was living a life akin to a teenager with an addiction to PlayStation and social media."

But Judge Farrer disagreed and told Gordon: "You are an intelligent, streetwise individual with a forceful personality. I see no evidence of particular immaturity."

He continued: "It was you that felt slighted by Cody Fisher and it was you that planned and drove this attack." The judge who concluded Gordon had been the 'leader' of his group, the one who had 'engineered' the violence and then 'gloried' in it afterwards. He did however state that he had likely intended really serious harm to Cody, as opposed to intended that he should be killed.

Gordon was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 26 years as a dock officer sat between him and Carpenter as had been the arrangement throughout the trial. His pride, jealously and ego cost Cody his life and also destroyed the life of his girlfriend Jessica Chatwin, who watched her soulmate die in her arms.

Gordon effectively imposed a 'life sentence' on the footballer's mother Tracey Fisher, who cannot even bring herself to enter her youngest son's bedroom anymore. She also described the torture of having to sit next to his coffin at the chapel of rest and visiting his headstone with his dog.

Then there is the wider heartbreak he inflicted to Cody's brother, father, family, friends and all the teammates that shared a pitch with him for the likes of Stratford Town, Stourbridge FC, Bromsgrove Sporting and Birmingham City's academy. On the other side, Gordon dragged his longtime schoolfriend Carpenter into his mess.

The 22-year-old of Owens Croft, Kings Norton did not even know Cody and yet killed him over a trivial disagreement that did not involve him. He was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years.

Anderson, from Brookvale Park Road, Erdington, had only been associated with Gordon and his cronies for a matter of weeks before the events at The Crane. The 19-year-old spent around 14 months in custody awaiting trial while accused of murder, for which he was found not guilty.

He was locked up for far longer than his eventual punishment required having been sentenced to 18 months detention for affray, half of which would have been at a youth offenders institute. Anderson admitted attacking Mr Vann in the defence of his other friends and publicly apologised.

His family, friends and employer also painted a different picture of the teenager than the one who associated with Gordon and ambiguously spoke of his need to visit a 'shank shop'. He will be grateful for his freedom but will no doubt have to rebuild his reputation.

Gordon has also caused pain to his own family and friends, some of whom reacted with despair and fled out of the courtroom when he was found guilty of murder. Lastly, he has wrecked his own life. All over a nudge in the back. He will have a long time to think about that.