by A heartbroken mother stood outside Birmingham Crown Court last week to condemn the senseless loss of her ‘beautiful boy’ in the city’s knife crime epidemic. She called for tougher punishments for those who carry knives and branded those who choose to be ‘weak, pathetic squires’.
But then less than 48 hours later at the same court, in a completely separate case, a sentence of a little more than two years was given to a teenager ‘obsessed’ with machetes, and he will be submitted to half detention before being released. Perhaps more worrying is the claim that the courts will not be ‘able to stop young men’ carrying knives.
The culprit in this case actually defended himself – even though he was a lawyer – from arming himself because it was argued that he could have been killed otherwise. That, in a nutshell, is another week of Birmingham’s dilemma with knives that saw an explosion of stabbings and the killing of a schoolboy.
READ MORE: The story behind killer Remy Gordon – addicted to Playstation and whose deadly ego led to a life of pain
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Of course the first case I referred to was the murder of 23-year-old semi-professional footballer Cody Fisher who was executed at The Crane nightclub in Digbeth on Boxing Day, 2022. He was targeted by Remy Gordon, of the same . aged, who became disaffected after receiving compensation after tackling the victim at a club two nights earlier thinking he was crying in the back.
It was his friend Kami Carpenter, 22, who eventually beat Mr Fisher on the dance floor. Both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life with minimum terms of 26 years for Gordon and 25 for Carpenter last Monday, April 9.
Cody’s mother, Tracer Fisher, told the gathered press: “Sentencing day is finally upon us after a long winding road to get some form of justice for Cody. We always knew in our broken hearts, no doubt , that our beautiful boy was losing his life to knife crime, for no reason.
“The sentence that has been passed is somewhat of a blessing that they are no longer on our streets and hopefully it goes some way to trying to eradicate this terrible epidemic that is destroying so many people.”
When asked questions afterwards she described the sentences of her son’s killers as ‘fixed’ and said they would ‘absolutely’ not stop young men from carrying knives. Ms Fisher called for ‘tougher sentences’ for those who go out armed with bladed weapons adding that her message to anyone who does is: “You are weak. Pathetic guards. That’s what I would say. And destroy they so many lives “.
But then on Wednesday 18-year-old Oliwier Gabis found himself in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court along with three other teenagers, in a separate case. The gang were arrested after police chased a car from Lozells, due to the occupants wearing balaclavas. A number of knives and a homemade shotgun known as a ‘Slam Gun’ were found. Gabis was cleared of possessing the latter but was found guilty of possessing knives.
The teenager was also involved in two separate incidents in Handsworth. When a man stood in front of the door, he pulled a machete and warned ‘don’t make me blow you’, which is street lingo for ‘sab’.
In another incident, he retrieved a machete from his rucksack and gave it to his friend when a man armed with a large blade attacked him at a shop. A ‘sword fight’ ensued and Gabis threw groceries, including a can of beans, at the attacker as he attacked his friend.
The court heard that Gabis had previous convictions for carrying knives. His barrister Simon Burch described him as an ‘intelligent and talented young man’ who suffered psychologically as a result of one of his friends being executed and another taking his own life.
He said: “This young man had a stark choice. To balance the risk to his life if he did not have something used to protect himself, against the danger of armed offences. If that knife was not at Mr. Gabis (during the shop incident) there was a high risk that he would be seriously injured if not killed, given the determined effort of that masked person.”
Mr Burch continued: “It is unfortunate that the courts will not be able to stop young men carrying knives. If Mr Gabis had not been armed that day, as unattractive as the point is, his life may have He lost it. It’s that simple.
Judge Dean Kershaw disagreed and objected that it was a ‘circular’ argument. He said that Gabis was famous and that he was ‘obsessed’ with machete-type weapons, so anyone who attacked him would probably feel the need to be armed himself.
Judge Kershaw said: “It is his possession that creates the problem.”
Gabis was eventually sentenced to two years and one month in detention for three counts of possessing a bladed article and a charge of threatening someone with a knife. Judge Kershaw continued: “Knife crime is a real problem as is carrying weapons such as Slam Guns. Mr Burch said when he spoke to me that the courts will never be able to stop people carrying knives.
“Well, I take it from a more positive aspect and make it clear so that everyone knows that the courts will impose custodial or detention terms for such offenses if weapon options are carried for any reason, that’s what will follow , prison or detention i. normal circumstances.
“Public safety is paramount, whether I can overturn the conviction or not, that doesn’t stop me as a crown court judge trying to make sure the public is protected and justice is served.”
Perhaps it is not difficult to imagine what Cody Fisher’s family would do to Gabis’ punishment.
