No sentence review for Cody Fisher's killers

Cody Fisher was attacked and fatally stabbed by a masked group in Birmingham

The sentences of two men who murdered a footballer on a nightclub dance floor will not be reviewed on the grounds of undue leniency, it has been confirmed.

Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter were given life sentences with a minimum of 26 years and 25 years respectively after Cody Fisher, 23, was stabbed to death in Birmingham on 26 December 2022.

The BBC had been told the Attorney General's Office (AGO) had received a referral arguing the sentences of 8 April this year were too lenient.

An AGO spokesman said the threshold for a review was "a high one".

He said after careful consideration, the Solicitor General concluded the case "cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal".

Under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme, people may ask for a crown court sentence to be reviewed if they think it is too short.

Previously, a spokesman for Attorney General Victoria Prentis confirmed the two men's sentences 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 a sentence was appropriate.

• Watch on BBC iPlayer: The Dance Floor Murder

The AGO said a referral under the ULS scheme to the appeal court could "only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence".

The office added: "The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case."

Mr Fisher, who had played for a number of non-league Midlands clubs, including Bromsgrove Sporting and Stratford Town, was attacked and fatally stabbed by a masked group at the Crane nightclub.

The AGO said the "Solicitor General was appalled by this case and wishes to express his sympathies to Cody Fisher’s family and friends".