With tears, fights and blazing rows, the court is an eventful place, and 2024 may just have been the most dramatic year I’ve witnessed covering Birmingham’s criminal justice system. Things have been interesting before I even stepped foot in the crown court building on Newton Street.
In the past I’ve detailed the trouble and farce of the 45-minute morning queue at the magistrates court around the corner thanks to the – let’s just say – ‘thorough’ security measures. Then there was the daily saga of witnessing people steal from the city centre Greggs like clockwork, and no-one really knowing how to stop it. That still goes on by the way.
This year, a new trend has caught my eye; the city council’s very active litter enforcement officers. I’ve seen one particular chap snare countless people discarding cigarette nubs on to the rather sad-looking gravelled area outside the court building.
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Ironically, the so-called ‘flower bed’ has a homeless den behind it which is perhaps a stark reminder of more pressing problems in the city. Everyone from jurors doing their public duty to detectives have fallen foul of the temptation to cast away their used ciggies there. They have fiercely remonstrated with the straight-faced officer about the lack of bins in the area, all to no avail.
The punishment? A £150 fixed penalty notice with no discount for early repayment. Ouch. All in the name of keeping the streets clean aye. Nothing to do with putting a sticking plaster over the multi-million-pound black hole in the council’s finances, I’m sure. Anyway, on to what has actually happened inside the court.
The gravelled area outside of Birmingham Crown Court and the homeless den behind it
As I said, this year has been dramatic. It started off in January when a grisly murder trial concluded. Teenager Terrell Boyce was found guilty of stabbing 33-year-old Ronique Thomas to death in Kings Heath in a dispute over a stolen e-bike.
But his co-accused former friend Nathaniel Daly, who had also pursued the victim albeit at a significant distance behind Boyce, was found guilty of manslaughter. Boyce, evidently incensed at the contrasting outcomes, launched for Daly in the dock forcing detention officers to wrestle them apart. Their respective families reacted emotionally from the public gallery and court security staff sped in to try and calm things down from outside the dock.
Terrell Boyce murdered Ronique Thomas in Moseley
(Image: WMP)
Boyce was led out ranting. Two months later he was hauled into court in handcuffs and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years. Daly received ten years, of which he will serve two thirds in custody.
In February an extraordinary row broke out in the middle of one particular case between a barrister and judge. Gerladine Toal demanded the hearing be halted as she warned she would be putting in a formal complaint against Judge Francis Laird KC for ‘bullying’.
He had become visibly irritated at her client interrupting the proceedings from the dock, before Ms Toal could explain that he had mental health issues. While lawyers and judges have robust discussions all of the time, most of which aren’t worth reporting, it’s unheard of for a barrister to make such a serious claim against a judge in open court. Ultimately, they set aside their differences to conclude the hearing.
Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter murdered Cody Fisher (inset) at The Crane in Digbeth on Boxing Day in 2022
In arguably the city’s biggest case this year Kami Carpenter and Remy Gordon received life sentences for the murder of semi-professional footballer Cody Fisher at Digbeth nightclub The Crane. They had targeted him on the dancefloor over a petty confrontation he had with Gordon two nights earlier.
But the trial itself was shrouded in tension from start to finish due to the fact the defendants and one-time friends turned on each other in a bid to shift the blame from themselves. Judge Paul Farrer KC had to give several warnings to the respective supporters of each defendant due to disruptive behaviour in court.
At one point Mr Fisher’s friends and family were forced to stay away after being intimidated. Fears heightened following a major twist in the trial itself when controversial witness Jayon Paton-Blake abandoned his original account that Carpenter had confessed to the fatal stabbing.
Then the judge had to deliver a specific warning about ‘backchat’ and ‘audience participation’ when Carpenter himself gave evidence. A significant police presence was required at court when the jury returned their verdicts. A number of people stormed out and could be heard shouting in the corridor after Gordon was convicted of murder.
Zahid Khan: Ten-year timeline of fraudster’s double life
This summer saw a line drawn under one of the most notorious criminal stories Birmingham Live has covered in recent years. Zahid Khan, who was already a controversial figure, shot to infamy in 2018 by fleeing the country to Dubai while a jury was deliberating over his £500,000 licence plate fraud scheme.
He was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in his absence. But Khan spent the next five years goading authorities on social media by showing of his supposedly extravagant life as a fugitive, mingling with celebrities and flying his own plane among other things.
He finally surrendered in Turkey last December and was hauled back to the UK to start belatedly serving his lengthy jail-time. Far removed from his brazen online persona Khan, from Moseley, appeared subdued and resigned to his fate as he accepted a token four-week sentence for failure to surrender.
Ellen Sweeney, Thomas Sweeney senior, and Thomas Sweeney junior leave Birmingham Crown Court.
(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
In the autumn, a Birmingham family were facing jail for their involvement in what a judge described as one of the ‘worst violent disorders’ ever to take place in the city centre. Mum of 12 Ellen Sweeney, husband Thomas Sweeney and son Thomas Sweeney junior, along with other relatives, were captured on CCTV fighting in the Gay Village in truly wild scenes.
Despite almost inevitable imprisonment, they were allowed to keep their bail at a previous court appearance to allow Thomas Junior to get married. And what happened next? They failed to show for their sentencing hearing and went off the radar. Subsequent enquiries indicated they had returned to the Republic of Ireland. Who saw that coming?
Sometimes the cases that peak the most interest aren’t necessarily the most serious, but the most unusual. If one comes to mind from 2024 it would be the Solihull mum who had a giant tree outside her home chopped down without permission from the council.
Kelly Palmer had the large Ash tree outside her home in Shirley, Solihull removed illegally
Kelly Palmer claimed the 14-foot-tall Ash caused a nuisance in her street, including clattering on her daughter’s bedroom window, keeping her awake at night. The project manager pleaded guilty to contravening a provision of the regulations but walked out of the magistrates court without a fine.
Instead, she was handed a 12-month conditional discharge. Naturally, some people were outraged at the lack of punishment.
Birmingham has no shortage of major cases. It feels like a new murder trial, or two, starts every week. Hoards of new jurors arrive most Monday mornings creating a queue that snakes around the corner of the crown court and down as far as Scruffy Murphy’s bar.
If you’re one of them in 2025 and are a smoker, just remember, dispose of your spent cigarettes legally. You wouldn’t want to ruin the flowerbed.