Taxi driver plea seven years after nightclub murder

Ryan Passey, 24, was stabbed at Chicago's nightclub in Stourbridge on 6 August 2017

A taxi driver may hold vital clues about the death of a young man stabbed in a nightclub.

West Midlands Police have reopened their investigation into Ryan Passey's death, seven years after he was fatally stabbed at Chicago's nightclub in Stourbridge.

Kobe Murray admitted stabbing Mr Passey but was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter. A civil case later concluded he had unlawfully killed him.

New police inquiries were prompted by an independent review of the case by West Yorkshire Police in 2022 and the West Midlands force hope the taxi driver will come forward.

Police said the driver of a Beacon Taxis car had picked up a young white man near the side entrance of Dudley Fire Station at about 01:10 BST on 6 August 2017, just minutes after Mr Passey was killed.

The passenger, who has already been spoken to by officers, was going to a location near the centre of Sedgley.

In a statement issued via the police, Mr Passey's family also urged the driver or anyone who knew him to come forward.

“Owing to the passage of time, it will be almost impossible to trace him without the public’s help," the family said.

In the 2018 trial, 19-year-old Kobe Murray admitted stabbing Mr Passey but said it was unintentional.

West Midlands Police's investigation and the trial were later assessed in an independent review by West Yorkshire Police.

The review made 18 recommendations, which the force accepted before starting a re-investigation.

As part of its fresh inquiries, the force also appealed earlier this year for two witnesses who were in the nightclub queue to come forward.