Birmingham nightclub staff "oblivious" and "cleaning up dancefloor" amidst murder scene

Police have said staff at a nightclub in Birmingham where a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death on Boxing Day were "oblivious" to what was happening and started "cleaning the dancefloor" as CPR was being performed on Cody Fisher.

Emergency services were called to the Crane club in Digbeth just before midnight, and found the semi-professional footballer had been stabbed.

As the investigation into his murder continues, West Midlands Police has asked Birmingham City Council to review the venue's licence.

The hearing will take place tomorrow (Friday) with the council publishing the committee papers.

In the document, Superintendent Sally Simpson described chaotic scenes surrounding Mr Fisher's death and evidence of drug use within the premises.

She said officers who had first arrived at the venue noted "hundreds" of small bags and empty nitrous oxide canisters on the floor.

In her statement, Supt Simpson said: "On entry to the premises officers were asked by security to help with crowd control, which they said no, and ran in to commence CPR and assist the paramedics on the scene.

"On body-worn cameras, you will see staff wandering round all over the place like they're oblivious to what is happening. Further to this, they have started to clean the dancefloor further down from where the deceased was, officers shouted at them to stop.

The statement continued: "West Midlands Police are concerned as to how a knife has been able to get inside the premises. Any control measures, the premises may have had, have been found ineffective.

"This is compounded by the fact officers have seen evidence of drug use within the venue, which was openly on the dance floor. Also, the chaos noted by officers, with staff seemingly having no idea how to manage the situation or preserve the scene, again pointing towards lack or poor control measures and training."

Council licensing officers will meet tomorrow to hear the application. The venue has already cancelled its New Year's Eve event following Mr Fisher's death and said it's working with police as the investigation continued.

Responding to a review of its licence, a spokesperson for Crane added: "An expedited review of a premises licence is normal whenever any serious crime takes place at a licensed premises, and we are cooperating fully.

"We place the highest priority on all aspects of public safety and security.

"Whilst it would be wrong for us at this stage to react to individual, anecdotal accounts of the circumstances that applied on Boxing Day, we do employ extensive and professional security procedures for all public events, and our contracted security staff are professionals who are licensed by the SIA.

"But we will of course be conducting a full and detailed review in light of this week's tragedy, as well as assisting fully with the ongoing police enquiry."

Detectives are questioning three men on suspicion of murder. Four others are being held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

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