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FIREWORK 'NOT ATTACK ON PLAYER' A firework which landed near Shrewsbury Town's goalkeeper during the FA Cup tie with Chelsea was not launched as an attack on the player, police have said. The rocket was one of several let off outside Shrewsbury's Gay Meadow ground during the fourth round tie, which Chelsea won 4-0. It narrowly avoided hitting Shrewsbury keeper Ian Dunbavin, 22. SNIFFER DOGS TO SEARCH SCHOOL A school near Solihull has announced plans to deploy sniffer dogs to randomly search pupils as part of a drugs education programme. Teachers at Heart of England School in Balsall Common said it sends out the message drugs will not be tolerated. Throughout the year the school will have several random unannounced visits from dog handlers. MAN ARRESTED OVER ARSON A Nuneaton man has been arrested after a suspected arson attack on a house which left a woman requiring hospital treatment for smoke inhalation. Firefighters rescued the 35-year-old woman from an upstairs bedroom at an address in Barton Road. The man was later arrested at the house on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, police said. SECURITY MAN SLASHED BY ROBBERS A Birmingham security guard is recovering after he was slashed across the back by armed robbers who stole three Subaru cars worth £25,000. The five-strong gang wielding a gun, knives and a screwdriver confronted the 31-year-old employee at a compound in South Road, Sparkbrook. He received wounds to his arms and back before they escaped with the vehicles. FOOTBALLER'S OLD HOME FOR SALE The Staffordshire home where England football legend Sir Stanley Matthews grew up is going under the hammer. Number 89 Seymour Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, where Sir Stanley was born in 1915, is to be sold off at an auction in the city. Auctioneers Butters John Bee say the football connection is unlikely to boost its guide price beyond £25,000. DELAYED TILTING TRAIN ON TRACK The long-delayed new high-speed tilting train, built in Birmingham, has completed its maiden passenger journey from Manchester to London. The Pendolino tilting train, operated by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Rail, was built by engineering firm Alstom. Passengers on the maiden trip to Euston Station were accompanied by Virgin chairman Sir Richard. MAN KILLED IN ROAD COLLISION A pedestrian has been killed in a car collision in Shrewsbury, prompting police to appeal for witnesses. Officers are trying to trace three witnesses after the death of David Ivor Peach, 52, of Ditherington. They are anxious to trace the driver of a Peugeot and two young men who were at the scene of the accident in Ditherington Road, Shrewsbury. MURDER SUSPECT DUE IN COURT The co-owner of a taxi firm is due in court in Birmingham accused of murdering a bride who was stabbed to death on her wedding day. Tafarak Hussain, 25, is due before Judge Richard Wakerley, the Recorder of Birmingham, at the city's Crown Court. Hussain, of Bordesley Green, is alleged to have killed 21-year-old Sahda Bibi in an attack at her Yorkshire home. PROBE IN TO MAN'S DEATH Detectives in Staffordshire are probing the death of a man whose body was discovered in a canal near Lichfield. Police were called to Trent and Mersey waterway off Daisy Lane, Alrewas, where the 54-year-old's body was spotted. Officers said the spot is popular with anglers and are appealing for anyone who may have seen the man, believed to be from Lichfield, to contact them. FUNERAL OF ROAD-CRASH GIRL Mourners are gathering for the funeral of a three-year-old West Midlands girl after she was killed on a busy road. Isobel Appleton, from Oldbury, died after she was in collision with a Vauxhall Astra while crossing Hagley Road West in Quinton, Birmingham. A 40-year-old man has since been charged with failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance. £13.5m GRANT FOR TOWN HALL Civic leaders in Birmingham are celebrating a £13.5m lottery grant to bring the city's historic Town Hall back to life. The Grade I listed building, which has hosted visits from Queen Victoria and the Beatles, has been closed since 1996 due to structural problems. The Lottery money is the largest ever grant in the West Midlands. YOUTH CHARGED WITH RAPE A teenager has been charged with the brutal rape of a young woman who was snatched off a street at gunpoint and attacked in an alleyway in Coventry. A police spokesman said officers had charged a 16-year-old Coventry youth with rape, robbery and two counts of attempted robbery. The teenager is due to appear at Coventry Magistrates' Court. MILBURN TO VISIT £60m UNIT Health Secretary Alan Milburn is due to lay the foundation stone for Wolverhampton's new £60m cardiac unit. The Secretary of State is due at the city's New Cross Hospital to visit the site where the new Heart Centre is being constructed. The unit, which is set to open in June 2004, will employ 600 staff and will serve patients in the Black Country. CHILD KILLER JAILED FOR LIFE A heroin addict who murdered his stepdaughter in their Wolverhampton flat while her prostitute mother was out working has been jailed for life. Adrian Jones, 30, waited until his girlfriend Nicola Saunders was out to abuse and murder three-year-old Terri Saunders, Birmingham Crown Court heard. The judge also jailed Saunders, 24, for three years after she admitted neglect. GROUP FROWNS ON 'RACIST' MEDIA A group embracing the main Christian churches in Wolverhampton claims that recent media coverage of asylum seekers could undermine racial harmony. Churches Together claims some reporting has branded foreigners seeking permanent refuge in the UK as "bogus claimants", terrorists or criminals. It adds that the city's diversity has grown despite "hostile" media comment. PAYOUT FOR OUSTED SOCCER BOSS The man who was sacked five days after guiding Stoke City to promotion has accepted a £37,500 out-of-court settlement for unfair dismissal. The First Division club confirmed that Gudjon Thordarson had accepted the payment prior to a scheduled employment tribunal hearing in Shrewsbury. Thordarson won promotion for the side via the play-offs in May 2002. LEGEND'S BOYHOOD HOME SALE The Stoke-on-Trent home where England football legend Sir Stanley Matthews honed his skills as a child has been sold for nearly twice its guide price. Number 89 Seymour Street, Hanley, where Sir Stanley was born in 1915, fetched £45,000 at auction. Estate agent Peter Sawyer said the vendors were delighted that the house exceeded its guide price of £25,000. 'LITTLE HITLER' TRIBUNAL CLAIM A train manager described by British Transport Police as a "little Hitler" for his actions after a Stoke City game has taken his case to a tribunal. Jack Seyghal said he was wrongfully dismissed after not letting a train -put on for the Brentwood v Stoke game -go until drunken fans were thrown off. The train was going from Swansea to London last May. BOY'S DREAM BACK ON TRACK Staff at the Royal Ballet School in Birmingham have given hope to a boy who believed his dream of becoming a real-life Billy Elliot had been dashed. Twelve-year-old Kristopher King, of Derby, thought his dream of being a professional ballet dancer was over after bullies stamped on his feet. But ballet staff have told him he could be back on stage within months. FREE TRAVEL RULE TO BE SCRAPPED Free travel for women aged 60-64 is to be phased out by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority. It says the concession will be replaced by half-fare travel for both men and women reaching 60 on or after April 1. Councillor Richard Worrall, the chairman of the authority, stressed that free travel passes will still be issued to those aged 65 and over. MP CRITICISES ASYLUM POLICY A Staffordshire MP has called for radical changes to asylum policy to deliver a safer and fairer system for both the public and genuine refugees. Michael Fabricant, the Tory member for Lichfield, also demanded tighter security at all UK ports. "The Government must ensure asylum seekers are properly vetted by the security services," he said. SHOT TEENAGER'S INQUEST RESUMES An inquest is due to resume into the death of one of the two teenage friends shot dead outside a New Year party at a hairdressing salon in Birmingham. The hearing into the murder of Charlene Ellis, 18, which was opened and adjourned earlier this month, is due to reopen at the city's Coroner's Court. Miss Ellis died in a hail of bullets in Aston in the early hours of January 2. PARTY SUSPECT 'MAY HAVE FLED' A man wanted for questioning over the death of two girls at a Birmingham New Year party may have fled the country. Det Supt Dave Mirfield, of West Midlands Police, said he has had unconfirmed reports one of the men he wants to talk to may have gone abroad. Students Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were shot outside a hairdressing salon in Aston. WOMAN RAPED AT KNIFEPOINT A woman was subjected to an horrific sex attack after being ordered into an alleyway in Tamworth at knifepoint, Staffordshire Police have said. The victim, who is in her 30s, was raped during the five-minute ordeal in the Amington area, The rapist is white, about 5ft 8in, in his late teens or early 20s and spoke with a Birmingham accent. BODY FOUND FLOATING IN RIVER Worcestershire Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found floating in the River Avon. The body has been removed from the river in Waterside, Evesham, and taken to the mortuary at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital. A force spokesman said: "We are keeping an open mind about how the woman died and have launched an investigation." DROWNED TODDLER INQUEST RESUMES An inquest is set to resume into the death of a two-year-old boy who drowned in an outdoor swimming pool near his home in Worcestershire. The Stourport-on-Severn coronor has already heard how Matthew Gowans was found in the pool by his father close to their home in Clent last summer. Matthew was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead the following day. TWO QUIZZED OVER CLONED PHONES Two men have been questioned in Birmingham after what is believed to be the first raid on a shop suspected of reprogramming stolen mobile phones. The store in Alum Rock was suspected of "cloning" handsets by illegally changing the unique identity number of each phone, police said. Under new laws, offenders could be jailed for up to five years. COUNCIL EVICTS FAMILY A Birmingham family have been evicted from their council home after ignoring anti-social behaviour orders. Lorraine Bonehill, 43, and her two children were told to leave their Northfield home after a county court heard they were causing a nuisance. Council spokeswoman Sandra Jenkinson said: "The housing department evicts tenants as a last course of action." WOMAN 'KEPT 75 CATS IN HOUSE' An elderly woman kept 75 cats in a squalid two-bedroom house, Birmingham magistrates have heard. Inspectors were "overpowered" by the smell of urine as they entered the rubbish-strewn home of Elsie Nash, the court was told. Nash, 73, of Kingsbury Road, Erdington, denies causing unnecessary suffering to domestic animals. MAN IN COLLISION WITH LORRY A 20-year-old man is in a critical condition after being in collision with a lorry as he crossed the main arterial route between Cannock and Lichfield. Staffordshire Police said the man suffered "life-threatening" injuries in the accident on the A5190. Officers are appealing for information on the crash and urged any witnesses to come forward. CAR WORKERS STRIKE OVER PAY Workers at car giant Peugeot in Coventry are to stage a one-day strike next month in a dispute over pay, union leaders have announced. The move follows a rejection by employees at the plant of a two-year pay offer worth 7.3%. Union official Dave Osborne said: "The company should take notice of the wishes of the workforce." MORE TESTS ON SHOOTING VICTIM A second post-mortem examination is to be carried out on the body of one of the Birmingham teenagers shot dead outside a New Year party. Birmingham Coroner Aidan Cotter made the decision at the request of Letisha Shakespeare's mother Marcia. Letisha, 17, and her friend Charlene Ellis, 18, died in a hail of bullets outside a hairdressing salon in Aston. COURT ORDER FOR NUISANCE BOY Police in Bromsgrove have secured the first ever anti-social behaviour order for the town, it has been announced. Jamie Lawson, from Charford, was made the subject of the order for 30 months by JPs at Droitwich Magistrates' Court. The court heard that the 13-year-old has been a nuisance to residents and youngsters in and around the Charford area since May 2002. MEP SLAMS ROAD GRITTING POLICY A West Midlands Euro MP has called on the Highways Agency to review its bad weather policy after the region came to a standstill due to snow. Philip Bradbourn said that despite adequate warnings the decision was taken not to grit certain roads including some stretches of motorway. "This procedure needs reviewing immediately," the Tory MEP said. RAIL PLANS COME UNDER FIRE The organisation which runs transport in the West Midlands has slammed the contents of the Strategic Rail Authority's newly-published plan. The Passenger Transport Authority said the plan fails to address the problems faced by the region's rail network. Richard Worrall said: "Despite lobbying, the West Midlands' investment needs remain in the sidings." PENSIONER DIES AFTER COLLISION An elderly man has died in hospital four days after being in collision with a car in Worcestershire. The pensioner was hurt when he was in collision with a white Ford Fiesta which was reversing out of a property in Sinton Green near Worcester. The man was taken to hospital by ambulance with a fractured right leg, but died there days later. OPEN VERDICT ON RIVER DEATH A coroner has recorded an open verdict on a pensioner whose body was found floating in the River Avon at Evesham. Worcestershire county coroner Victor Round confirmed that Valerie Hughes, 69, of Harvington, left a note in which she expressed suicidal thoughts. Recording his verdict, the coroner said: "It's rather likely she took her own life, but I can't prove it." PENSIONER 'COLLAPSED AT WHEEL' A 74-year-old man has died in a road accident in Halesowen. Officers believe the pensioner was taken ill as he was reversing off a driveway in Howley Grange Road. He ended up in a neighbouring garden. A police spokesman said: "At this stage it is believed the man may have collapsed at the wheel but officers are still investigating." ARMED ROBBER TARGETS GARAGE An armed robber escaped with cash from a Worcester petrol station after threatening a cashier with a gun. Police said the man struck at a BP filling station in Whittington Road, placing a canvas holdall on the counter and demanding cash. The man is described as white, about 6ft and was wearing a black woollen hat and a dark coat. PANCAKE FLIPPER IN RECORD BID A marathon runner from Wolverhampton is launching a charity bid to flip his way into the world record books. Harmesh Bhamra, 30, from Blakenhall, plans to become the first person to run the London Marathon in under three hours while tossing a pancake. Any money raised by his challenge in April will be donated to the brain charity Rehab UK.
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