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TOXIC POWDER INJURES OFFICERS Two police officers suffered irritation to their eyes after a chemical spill closed part of the M54 motorway in Shropshire. A toxic powder was found strewn across part of the eastbound carriageway near Telford around 6pm on Sunday. The motorway was closed between junctions three and four for several hours while it was decontaminated. £9m AFFORDABLE HOMES PLANNED Housing officials have unveiled a £9m flagship scheme to build 124 affordable homes on a derelict canalside site in Birmingham. Many of the homes will overlook the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal on the site off Brandwood Park Road. Full planning permission has been granted for the project and building work is due to begin later this year. CHAMBER CONCERNED OVER EU RULE Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry is concerned that an EU directive giving temporary workers more rights could harm the UK economy. The directive states temps can claim comparable basic pay and conditions with permanent staff when they start. The Chamber has been lobbying for a 12-month exemption to the new rules, which it says could cost jobs. DNA STAMPS REVEALED One of the 20th Century's most crucial scientific advances features on a set of postage stamps being launched in Birmingham. The images of the discovery of DNA, are being unveiled at the University of Birmingham Medical School. Earlier this year, the Royal Mint issued a special £2 coin to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the discovery. AEROSOL EXPLOSION DAMAGES HOME A Solihull woman is recovering after an aerosol which overheated in her flat caused an explosion which blew out windows and doors. Fire crews who went to the first floor flat in High Street, Solihull Lodge, found the blast had damaged three windows, two doors and a ceiling. The woman was treated by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries. BISHOP'S FEARS OVER WAR The Bishop of Coventry has expressed fears that the Government is caught in a situation where it may be unable to draw back from a war in Iraq. The Rt Revd Colin Bennetts said: "Our Government seems to have got itself in a position where it's very difficult to appear to be changing its mind." The bishop has called for wisdom and peace to prevail. BT APOLOGISES FOR £575,000 BILL Phone giant BT has apologised to a Birmingham man who was sent a phone bill for £574,885.13p. Arshad Butt, who runs a furniture store in Sparkbrook, said he was extremely relieved that BT had acknowledged that the bill was an administrative error. The 39-year-old, whose normal quarterly bill is £300, said: "I thought this phone bill would leave me bankrupt." POLICE UNIFORM IN A 'SHAMBLES' West Midlands police officers testing a national uniform have complained that it left them "freezing". Paul Tonks, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, said it showed the idea of a national uniform had become a "shambles". The uniform includes a fleece replacing the normal pullover and combat-style trousers with pockets on the legs. 25th. February 2003 IMMIGRANT FIGHTS DEPORTATION Solicitors are continuing their fight to prevent the deportation of an illegal immigrant who married a British woman and settled in Stoke-on-Trent. Albanian Urmit Hoti, 24, was arrested at his home in Blurton with his wife, Vicky, 23, and taken to an Oxfordshire detention centre. Mr Hoti had his application for asylum refused five years ago. SURVEY SAYS NO TO ASSEMBLY A survey by Tory MP Peter Luff revealed most people in mid-Worcestershire are against a regional assembly, The MP received 69 replies to a letter asking for opinions on proposals for a West Midlands devolved parliament and 63 were against the scheme. The survey follows local government minister Nick Raynsford's call for views on holding a referendum. MP APPLAUDS NEW CRIME AGENCY West Bromwich East Labour MP Tom Watson has welcomed the start of a new agency aiming to recoup criminals' assets. He claimed the Assets Recovery Agency would "undermine the financial base on which criminal gangs get their ill-gotten gains". The agency will be central to meeting the Government's target to double cash seized each year to £60m by 2004. MAN SHOT DURING PHONE ROBBERY A 31-year-old man has been shot in the leg by a gang during a robbery in Birmingham, police have said. The victim was walking in Wellington Road, Winson Green, when he was approached by several men in a car who stole his mobile phone and shot him. The man managed to get to a pub and was then taken to hospital where his condition was described as stable. GLIDER ACCIDENT VICTIM IS NAMED A glider pilot from Stoke-on-Trent who died when his aircraft became caught in wires has been named by police. Dominic Russan, 39, of Bucknall, was killed following the accident close to the Camphill Airfield, in Great Hucklow, Derbyshire. A passenger, 69, also from Stoke, is receiving treatment for head injuries at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester. ARRESTS MADE IN VICE CRACKDOWN Fifteen women have been arrested and sent before magistrates following a crackdown on prostitution in Coventry, West Midlands Police have said. The women were detained as part of a police initiative to rid the Hillfields area of the problem and are now receiving specialist counselling. A number of motorists were also arrested for kerb crawling in the area. SEX ATTACK VICTIM TRAUMATISED Detectives are continuing to probe a sex attack on a woman in Wolverhampton city centre over the weekend. The victim, 25, was indecently assaulted near St Peter's Church in the North Street area of the city centre. The attacker is white, in his 20s and 6ft with brown hair. The woman was traumatised by the attack and is being comforted by her family, police said. TEENAGER SUFFERS RACIST ATTACK An attack on an Asian teenager by a gang of white men which left him with a broken nose was racially motivated, police in Coventry have said. The victim, 19, was walking in St Nicholas Street when he was set upon by the gang, who taunted him with racist abuse as they punched and kicked him. The teenager was taken to the Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital for treatment. MAN, 72, DIES IN ROAD ACCIDENT A 72-year-old man has died after he was involved in a collision with a car in Warwickshire, police said. The pedestrian died at the scene of the incident in Warwick Road, Kenilworth, near to the town's cricket club. The Peugeot 206 car was driven by a 30-year-old Kenilworth woman. She was uninjured though extremely shaken and upset, a police spokeswoman added. WOMAN BANNED FROM KEEPING CATS An elderly animal lover who kept 75 cats in a squalid two-bedroom house in Birmingham has been banned from keeping more than two cats in her home. Birmingham Magistrates' Court was told RSPCA inspectors were taken back by the "over-powering" smell of cat urine in the house in Kingsbury Road, Erdington. Nash was also warned any breach of the orders could lead to a prison term
26th. February 2003 FRESH APPEAL OVER VAN MURDER Police probing the murder of a welder run over as he tried to stop thieves stealing his van in Birmingham are making a fresh appeal for help. A reconstruction of the moments before 37-year-old David Warrilow was knocked down and killed in Chelmsley Wood is to be screened on BBC's Crimewatch UK. A recording of a 999 call made minutes after the killing will also be shown. INQUEST JURY SET TO RECONVENE An inquest jury considering the death of a Shropshire man found hanged six months after the death of his uncle is due to reconvene. The panel is to continue deliberations into the death of 20-year-old Jason McGowan, from Telford. Mr McGowan was found suspended from railings with a belt around his neck on New Year's Day 2000. SUSPECT HELD ON WOMAN'S MURDER A man has been arrested by police officers investigating the murder of a Kidderminster pensioner whose body was discovered this week. The victim, in her 80s, was found at an address in Canterbury Road. Her identity is not being released until next-of-kin have been contacted. The suspect is understood to be being held at Kidderminster police station. TERROR SUSPECT MOVED TO CUBA A Birmingham man being held by US authorities on suspicion of involvement with the al-Qaeda network has been transferred from Afghanistan to Cuba. Moazzem Begg, 35, is now at an American air force base in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, where Foreign Office staff hope to visit him shortly. Begg's father claimed last month that his son was on the verge of suicide. TRUCK DRIVER ELECTROCUTED A Stoke-on-Trent man has died after his tipper truck touched live power lines and electrocuted him. The 45-year-old had pulled into a lay-by near Sandbach, Cheshire, and raised the main body of his truck when it touched a main overhead cable. Police said the vehicle became "live" and the man suffered serious injuries and later died at Leighton Hospital. BLIND WOMAN WINS OPERA CONTEST A Staffordshire woman who has been blind since birth has been given a dream chance to perform with one of Britain's leading opera companies. Denise Leigh, 31, from Audley, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, will perform at the home of the English National Opera, London's Coliseum. The mother-of-three was a joint winner of Channel 4's talent show Operatunity. MOBILE SNACK BAR HIT BY TRUCK A mobile snack bar operator from Derby has suffered severe injuries when his stationary vehicle was hit by a Scania truck in Staffordshire, police said. The 43-year-old man was thrown from the trailer in the incident on the A50 between Blythe Bridge and Uttoxeter. He is said to be in a serious condition in the North Staffordshire Hospital. Police have appealed for witnesses. IDENTITY SOUGHT ON DEAD BODY Police are appealing for help in identifying a man whose body has been found in woodland in the West Midlands. The man is white, aged mid 30s, 5ft 10in with short brown hair. He has a tattoo of a devil on his right arm. A passing member of the public found the body in Warley Wood, off Abbey Road in Warley on Monday. Police are not treating the death as suspicious. TEENAGE ACCIDENT VICTIM NAMED Police have named a teenager who died in a car crash in the Black Country. Darren Priest, 18, of Rowley Regis, was in a Vauxhall Corsa when it was in collision with a Ford Transit van and then crashed into a wall in Smethwick. Police want to speak to a second man in the Corsa who left the scene of the accident as they believe he may hold clues to how it happened. CHAMBER WELCOMES RATE REDUCTION Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce has claimed the weakening of sterling against the euro will benefit the region's exporters. Spokesman Peter Mathews said: "We have always felt that 1.4 euros to the pound is a suitable rate. I am glad we are now heading in that direction." "Businesses will survive and jobs will be maintained," he added.
27th. February 2003 SUSPECT FACES EXTRADITION A man is facing extradition from Ireland after he was arrested in Co Kerry over the murder of a man in Birmingham. The 38-year-old suspect is wanted for questioning over the death of Lee Tongue, who was found stabbed in the street after a party in Kings Norton. The man is expected to face extradition proceedings at Dublin's High Court. MAN RELEASED OVER GUN DEATHS A man arrested over the murders of two teenage girls gunned down while they celebrated New Year in Birmingham has been released without charge. Detectives are continuing to probe the shootings of Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17, on January 2. West Midlands Police said a 24-year-old was released after officers obtained a 12-hour extension to question him. BOXING LEGEND IN THE MIDLANDS Boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper was in the Midlands yesterday to meet his fans and sign autographs at BarSport in Cannock and Walsall. Sir Henry, (the only boxer to be knighted) is pictured with Gareth Rogers of SportingYears.com (left), Scott Murray, the former boxer and owner of BarSport, the sporting themed bar and cafe venues and boxing promoter Ron Gray (right)
UNANIMOUS VERDICT RULING A Telford inquest jury considering the death of a man found hanged on railings six months after his uncle's death has been told to give a unanimous verdict. The 10-strong panel has reconvened for a third day to consider the death of Jason McGowan, 20, of Telford, who was discovered dead on New Year's Day 2000. Coroner Michael Gwynne gave the order after a three-week hearing. MAN BADLY HURT IN FIGHT A Ludlow man is recovering in hospital after suffering severe head injuries during a fight with another man. The victim was taken to hospital where his condition was described as critical but stable after he was found at an address in The Wildings. West Mercia Constabulary say they are looking for another man in his early 20s in connection with the incident. CRASH VICTIM DIES IN HOSPITAL A 20-year-old Birmingham car passenger injured in a fatal accident earlier this month has died in hospital. Raian Dawn Chambers, of Longbridge, died at Selly Oak Hospital nearly two weeks after a car she was in left the road in Rednal, Worcestershire. The driver of the Austin Montego estate, 19-year-old Roy Davies, died in the crash at Rose Hill. MOTORCYCLIST DIES IN WALL CRASH A 35-year-old motorcyclist died when his bike crashed into a wall in the Black Country. Steven Sargeant was riding along Manor House Road, Wednesbury, when his 600cc Suzuki mounted the kerb after a bend and hit a garden wall. The Wednesbury man suffered fatal head and neck injuries. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident. ELECTROCUTED DRIVER NAMED A 45-year-old lorry driver who was electrocuted when his vehicle touched overhead power cables was a man from Staffordshire, police have said. Blane Nickisson, of Stoke-on-Trent, was in a lay-by near Sandbach, Cheshire, when the tipper section of his truck was raised and touched the cables. Cheshire Constabulary are appealing for any witnesses. DRIVER ESCAPES ARCHWAY CRASH A lorry driver has escaped uninjured after his cab crashed into an archway near a factory in the Black Country. The 17-tonne truck demolished the arch in Middlemore Lane, Aldridge, and fire crews had to cut him out of the wreck. He suffered no injuries but received a precautionary check-up from paramedics at the scene, a fire brigade spokesman added. SCHEMES WIN CASH BOOST Three projects to boost tourism, create training opportunities and improve the environment in north Shropshire have received a £1.3m windfall. Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands said the cash would aid plans to set up training centres in St Martin's and Llanyblodwel. The agency is also transforming a Treflach quarry abandoned in the 30s. WINE-MAKERS SUPPLY CONFERENCE Two wine producers from Staffordshire and Worcestershire are supplying the drinks at a conference in Cannes. Guests from 65 countries will enjoy wines from the Halfpenny Green Vineyard near Wombourne and the Tiltridge Vineyard near Upton upon Severn. The vineyards are sending one and a half tonnes of wine to the four-day conference which starts on March 3. GIRL DIES ON SKIING HOLIDAY A nine-year-old girl from Rugby has died after crashing into a ski lift while on a family holiday in Germany. The accident happened as Gina Coy, from Bilton, was practising on the nursery slopes in the resort of Bayrischzell. Michael Floyd, headteacher of St Marie's Junior School in Rugby, said Gina's classmates recieved counselling after being told of the tragedy. MP SAYS RAIL PLAN NOT WORKING Lichfield Tory MP Michael Fabricant has slammed the Strategic Rail Authority's decision to cut services, claiming it had not led to improved punctuality. The MP said his constituents were bemoaning the fact that despite cuts rail services remain unreliable. He said: "The reduction in trains was tolerated because we were promised an improvement. This is not happening." OAP's ARM BROKEN IN ROBBERY An 80-year-old woman suffered a broken arm after being attacked by muggers who stole bingo winnings in Oldbury. The victim was with her daughter near the bus station when she was pushed to the ground by the thieves who then snatched her bag containing £50. The men were described as white, aged in their early 20s and around 5ft 6ins. Police are appealing for witnesses. NOISE ROW MAN MAY BE JAILED A man now living in Walsall has been warned he could go to prison after a row about a neighbour's loud music. Gary Stirzaker, 47, pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to affray and was remanded on bail for background reports to be sentenced later. His neighbour, Darren Johnston, was hurt in the incident outside flats in Morton, Carlisle. ARMED RAID ON STORE Police are hunting a robber armed with a revolver who struck at a village store in Kidderminster. The man escaped with cash from the Spar shop in Hagley, after ordering the woman away from the till. He is described as white, in his 20s or 30s, and 5ft 7ins. He was wearing a jacket and a blue baseball cap and had a Celtic design tattooed on his neck. CITY COMES BOTTOM IN QUIZ Wolverhampton has come bottom of an internet quiz, with residents answering only 36% of questions correctly. Some 20,000 internet users were invited to answer 10 multiple choice questions from a database of 500. Brighton came out in first place with 87%. Participants faced posers like "Who is the England football captain?" and "What does Sinn Fein literally mean?". POLICE TO VISIT PHARMACIES Officers from West Midlands Police are to visit pharmacies throughout the region as part of the force's strategy to tackle drug abuse. Chemists are being visited to help destroy and dispose of out-of-date and returned controlled drugs, which are no longer needed by patients. The initiative aims to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the market. SOAP STAR TO COLLECT DIGGER Coronation Street star Helen Worth who plays Gail Hillman, the wife of serial killer Richard, is to accept a digger in Rocester for an elephant sanctuary. The actress, a patron of the Born Free Foundation, will be at the JCB headquarters to accept the eight-tonne machine on behalf of the charity. JCB agreed to donate the £35,000 3CX Backhoe Loader for use in Sri Lanka. FORMER LORD MAYOR DIES Honorary Alderman Bill Sowton, a former Lord Mayor of Birmingham who dedicated 25 years of his life to the city, has died aged 89. Mr Sowton, who was awarded an MBE for his services to public life, undertook the mayoral role from 1983-84. He died peacefully at West Heath Hospital. His funeral will take place on Thursday March 6 at Lodge Hill Crematorium. MAN JAILED OVER PENSIONS FRAUD A Leamington Spa man has been jailed after admitting a £6m pension fraud. William Ferguson, 56, admitted at Oxford Crown Court on January 14 to defrauding the Inland Revenue of more than £1m with a business partner. Ferguson was jailed for 18 months for the Inland Revenue charges and received a concurrent eight-month sentence for charges under the 1995 Pensions Act.
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