A police officer who attended the scene of Cody Fisher's fatal stabbing is claiming that security staff at the nightclub tried to clear up evidence of drugs as the young man died.
The account comes as the club faces a hearing to decide whether it should be shut down.
Emergency services found the 23-year-old footballer on the dancefloor of Digbeth venue Crane with a stab wound on Boxing Day.
Amid a murder investigation West Midlands Police said they applied for an urgent review of Crane’s licence over “serious management failings”, and Birmingham City Council will hold a hearing tomorrow to consider whether it should be suspended.
The licensing committee will also examine whether the club should be stripped of its permission to sell alcohol, and if the premises supervisor should be removed.
Ahead of the hearing, Superintendent Sally Simpson described chaotic scenes surrounding Cody's death with attending officers noting evidence of drug taking at the venue.
'Hundreds' of small bags and empty nitrous oxide canisters were littered around the floor, she said.
She claimed Cody was fatally stabbed after a fight broke out on the dancefloor, Birmingham Live reports.
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 around 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.
"Whilst officers are doing CPR, you can see people just wandering around in the scene freely. As soon as we had more officers at the scene they were removed and the whole dancefloor was cordoned off and the area was made sterile.
"There were hundreds of small drug bags and nitrous oxide canisters all over the floor. These included the small and very large nitrous oxide canisters with balloons."
Supt Simpson added how the force is "concerned" over "how a knife was able to get inside the premises".
On why the venue's licence should be reviewed, she said: "Any control measures the premises may have had were 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."
Licensing officers will be asking for immediate measures to be put in place to 'ensure public safety', police said. The hearing over the Digbeth nightclub will be heard tomorrow (December 30).
The hearing comes as police have today said a 22-year-old man has been detained following Cody's death, having been arrested in London at around 3am on Thursday.
He is the third person to be arrested on suspicion of murder, while four others have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
The Adderley Street venue has already cancelled its New Year's Eve event following Cody's tragic death on Boxing Day.
A post-mortem yesterday confirmed that the 23-year-old died of a stab wound. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder, while four others were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
DCI Ian Ingram, leading the murder probe into the talented footballer's death, said today that all seven remain in custody. He added that West Midlands Police "continue to build a picture of the events" that led to Cody's death.
In a statement on Crane's licence, the force said: "We have applied to Birmingham City Council for Crane’s licence to be reviewed. Licensing officers will be asking for immediate measures to be put in place to ensure public safety, and the hearing is due to take place tomorrow.
"We continue to work with other venues in Birmingham to ensure the safety of people at bars and clubs in the city."
Ahead of Friday's hearing, a spokesperson from Crane said that an expedited review of a premises licence was normal whenever any serious crime takes place at a licensed premises, and that venue management was "cooperating fully".
"We place the highest priority on all aspects of public safety and security," they said. "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."
They continued to say that as the matter was subject to an ongoing murder investigation, they would not be issuing any public statements or making any further comments relating to any individual details surrounding what was a "tragic" event.
