Kye Lemathy, aged 21, from Perry Barr had once played for Walsall FC’s academy
Kye Lemathy
Kye Lemathy was once described as a ‘magician’ of a footballer with Premier League clubs interested in him.
But the teenage prodigy spiralled into cannabis use and crime after being released by Walsall FC’s academy.
Now he is facing spending most of his 20s in jail for shooting at two people on a Birmingham street after being stabbed by one of them.
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Life has been troubled from day one for Lemathy who was born addicted to heroin and had to been weaned off on methadone in his first week, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
He was brought up by his grandmother and grew up ‘angry’ at the world, including his drug addict parents.
Yet there was hope for his future due to his footballing abilities which saw him picked up by Walsall FC’s academy.
Kye Lemathy(Image: West Midlands Police)
His barrister said it was being let go by the Black Country club that saw him spiral into cannabis use.
Lemathy was ultimately excluded from school and committed three robberies as a youth.
But in 2021 things seemed to be on the up for him.
Lemathy found himself playing for Kingstanding-based Red Lions United in the amateur Birmingham & District Football League.
In a club blog post he stated the team had ‘helped me get back the love for playing football’ as he spoke of his hopes of being picked up by a Premier League outfit.
The club chairman also spoke glowlingly of the then 17-year-old describing him as a ‘magician’ in centre midfield who was regularly fouled by opposition players for being too good for them.
“He is a future super star and should be playing academy football,” he said.
But instead Lemathy became further drawn into crime, earning a conviction for supplying cannabis in 2023.
And then on October 12 last year he embroiled himself in a street row which would wreck his football aspirations once and for all.
Around 7.30pm he left his home at Holte Road, Perry Barr on his e-bike but within a few minutes found himself arguing with two unidentified males, also on bikes, at a bus stop in Aston Lane.
Lemathy returned home but set out again very quickly. He had retrieved his revolver gun.
Immediately he went back to find the two males and aimed his gun at them.
CCTV captured the three of them go back and forth in the area for the next few minutes, as fireworks could be seen blasting off in the background.
Eventually they ended up near the Gulf petrol station on Witton Road.
One of the males shoved Lemathy off his bike to the ground and stabbed him in the back.
In retaliation Lemathy aimed his revolver at him and fired at least twice.
He tried to discharge further shots but the gun appeared to jam, while his target danced around a white Mercedes to avoid being in his line of sight. He had not been hit.
Lemathy tried to retrieve his bike but was forced back and ultimately abandoned it in the road and ran off.
He went to a hospital shortly afterwards. The stab wound had punctured one of his lungs.
Lemathy was discharged after a few days but still has breathing problems which are being investigated, his barrister confirmed.
Police originally charged him with attempted murder, which could have seen him staring at a life sentence.
But prosecutors ultimately accepted his plea to an alternative charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Judge Melbourne Inman KC, the Recorder of Birmingham, concluded he was a ‘dangerous offender’.
On Tuesday, June 3, he sentenced the now 21-year-old to nine years and nine months with an extended three-year licence.
Lemathy will be entitled to release when he has served two thirds – six years and six months – of the custodial element of his punishment. He’ll be in his late 20s.
Judge Inman said: “Sadly this is another case of guns being fired in public here in our city.
“Guns and gun crime are a scourge of this city and the sentences therefore, as has been frequently said, are intended to punish and deter people from being in public with prohibited weapons.”
Lemathy is currently working in the prison servery and has completed courses in maths.
For the first time in his life he hopes to obtain legitimate employment when he gets out of prison.
Barrister Arron Payne, defending him, told the court Lemathy had a ‘deprived’ background and said: “He grew up angry at his parents and angry at life.
“When he lost the promising chances of football with Walsall Football Club, he spiralled into cannabis use aged 14. He ended up being excluded from school.
“He has never demonstrated a willingness to come off cannabis or an interest in working.
“In displays of unexpected and hopeful maturity that has all changed.”