Bid to reopen Birmingham club after Cody Fisher’s murder rejected

A bid to reopen the nightclub where footballer Cody Fisher was murdered has been rejected.

The 23-year-old was fatally stabbed on the dancefloor at the Crane club in Digbeth, Birmingham, on Boxing Day 2022.

Following his death, the venue’s licence was revoked but businessman Matthew Boulter, of Kanvas Birmingham Ltd, recently applied for a new one.

The application was rejected by Birmingham City Council due to concerns from West Midlands Police over a link between the new and former operator.

Mr Boulter told a licensing meeting earlier this month that the venue would be “so good for Digbeth” and he wanted to run it “as humanely and safely as possible”.

“There’s a lot of history with the premises which is going to be bad for a lot of people – I understand that. I really feel for the victims,” he said.

The application was opposed by Mr Fisher’s family and a representative told the meeting: “One life lost is one too many and no family should ever have to go through what our client and her family have been through.”

Mr Fisher, a former Birmingham City FC academy footballer who had also played for Bromsgrove Sporting and Stratford Town, was pronounced dead at the club after suffering stab wounds wounds to the chest and leg.

West Midlands Police said the new application from Kanvas was “linked to the previous owners” and was not a detached operator looking to reopen the venue.

A representative for the police said officers had met with Mr Boulter but were not satisfied that there was “no connection between the old and the new”.

The applicant’s solicitor claimed it was a “brand new” company and the new team in place would be “well thought-out, resourced and independent of the previous ownership”.

The council refused the application with a spokesperson saying it was due to the concerns raised by the police about the “connection between… the previous operator and the instant applicant”.

Digital Arts Media Ltd has appealed against the previous decision to revoke the licence but it was “still months away from being resolved”, according to police.