Club where Cody killed refused bid to reopen

POLICE CONVINCED APPLICATION WAS LINKED TO PREVIOUS OWNERS

- ALEXANDER BROCK

A BID for a new licence at the Birmingham premises where footballer Cody Fisher was murdered has been rejected.

Former Birmingham City FC academy footballer Cody Fisher, who also played for Bromsgrove Sporting and Stratford Town, was fatally stabbed at the Crane nightclub on Boxing Day 2022.

Following the incident, the club's premises licence was suspended as an interim step and later revoked.

But businessman Matthew Boulter, of Kanvas Birmingham Ltd, applied for a new licence at the premises, based at 50 Adderley Street in Digbeth.

The application sought to permit the sale of alcohol from 10am until midnight Monday to Sunday and the provision of 'regulated entertainment, such as live music.

At a licensing meeting, Mr Boulter spoke about the potential the premises had, saying it would be "so good for Digbeth if we get it right".

"There's a lot of history with the premises, which is going to be bad for a lot of people - I understand that," he said. "I really feel for the victims.

"Now the structure I'm trying to put together is to run it as humanly safely as possible."