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1st. May 2003
'SUICIDE BOMBER' HUNTED Israeli security forces are hunting a Derby man whom they say attempted a suicide bomb attack on a Tel Aviv beachfront bar. Omar Khan Sharif, 27, escaped after his device allegedly failed to detonate. Another suicide bomber was successful. Members of the Derby Islamic Centre, near to where Sharif lived, said they had not heard of him. DOUBLE Pc MURDER TRIAL TO BEGIN The trial of a Birmingham man accused of killing two police officers after an alleged high-speed chase in Leicestershire is to start in earnest. Leayon Davi Dudley, 39, is charged with the murder of Pcs Bryan Moore, 39, and Andrew Munn, 37, following a collision on the A42. A jury of eight men and four women was sworn in at Stafford Crown Court. MAN HELD AFTER BODY DISCOVERY A man has been arrested after the discovery of a woman's body at a property in Stoke-on-Trent. Police said they were treating the death as suspicious after finding the body in the Shelton area of the city. A post-mortem examination on the body of the woman, who has not yet been identified by police, is expected to be carried out. FORCE WELCOMES NEW CHIEF West Mercia Police have announced the appointment of a new Chief Constable. Paul West, currently Deputy Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, replaces Peter Hampson, who retired in March after four years in the post. Mr West, 45, is married with a young family and has an Oxford University physics degree and a MSc in criminal justice from Michigan State University. ROYAL COUPLE OPEN BLOOD UNIT The Earl and Countess of Wessex are opening the UK's first specialist centre for life-long blood disorders at Birmingham Children's Hospital. Edward and Sophie will meet staff and former and existing patients as they open the Haemoglobinopathy Service. The £500,000 centre treats children from birth to the age of 16 who suffer from often terminal blood conditions. POLICEMAN HURT IN HIT-AND-RUN A policeman was seriously injured when he was struck by a stolen car in a hit-and-run incident in Birmingham. The 37-year-old officer was in King's Heath High Street when he was hit by the white Rover Metro. The car, which was carrying two men, fled the scene. The officer - believed to have been on foot - suffered chest, shoulder and leg injuries and was taken to hospital. APOLOGY OVER AMBULANCE WAIT Ambulance chiefs have apologised to a terminally ill man who waited more than eight hours at his West Midlands home for an ambulance which never arrived. Stanley Hayward's GP called an ambulance to take the 74-year-old to hospital in Brierley Hill, but he was later found waiting at his nearby home. A West Midlands ambulance official said a full investigation had been launched. IRAQI WAR VICTIM DIES An Iraqi national who was flown to Britain for treatment has died in a Birmingham hospital, NHS chiefs said. The man, believed to be in his 40s, died at Selly Oak Hospital after arriving in Britain on Tuesday. A 16-year-old Iraqi boy is in a stable condition in the burns unit, while a 14-year-old is in a critical condition at the city's children's hospital. VAN DRIVER SOUGHT AFTER MURDER The driver of a cream-coloured van is being urged to contact police in connection with the murder of a licensee found dead in his Pelsall pub. Father-of-five Michael Hughes, 59, was discovered by cleaners in the living quarters of the Royal Oak on Sunday. A small van, described as about 10 years old with two parcel runners on the roof, was seen in the pub car park. GRIEVING MOTHER HAILS AMNESTY The mother of Letisha Shakespeare, one of two Birmingham teenagers shot dead at New Year, has praised the response to a West Midlands firearms amnesty. Marcia Shakespeare also urged parents to spend "quality time" with children to keep them off the streets. Mrs Shakespeare, of Nechells, added: "If one gun comes off the streets it has saved one person's life." FIREARMS AMNESTY SUCCESS The firearms amnesty has seen 896 guns and 10,000 rounds of ammunition given up in the West Midlands. Weapons handed in include a rocket launcher, a gun made from a walking stick and a 3ft-long home-made cannon. The number of guns surrendered has exceeded the total from a previous campaign in 1996, after the Dunblane massacre, when 560 guns were given up.
2nd. May 2003
WAR 'FACTOR IN BIRMINGHAM LOSS' Labour's loss of Birmingham City Council to no overall control after 19 years in power has been blamed on widespread anger at the war on Iraq. Mohammad Naseem, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, said he believes Labour lost 11 seats due to voters' opposition to conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the seats lost were wards with a high percentage of Muslim residents. (For more detailed results see below) BNP MAN WINS COUNCIL SEAT A BNP candidate who failed in his bid to become Stoke-on-Trent's new-style mayor is celebrating after winning a seat on the city council. Steven Batkin was elected to the Longton North ward by 144 votes, defeating Labour's Charles McLaren. His win was the only one for the BNP in Stoke with four other candidates failing to poll enough votes. ASYLUM PLANS HIT LABOUR VOTE Concerns over a proposed asylum seeker centre in Nottinghamshire hit Labour's election showing in Rushcliffe. The Tories retained Ruschliffe Borough Council with Labour losing seven seats. Independents lost North Shropshire and Bridgnorth to no overall control. Labour also lost Broxtowe, Cannock, Coventry, Derby, Dudley and North Warwickshire to no overall control. TORIES GAIN SIX COUNCILS The Conservatives have gained control of six councils in the West Midlands. The Tories gained seven seats in East Staffordshire to take control from Labour, who lost 12 seats. They also took Erewash from Labour control. In addition, Iain Duncan Smith's party took control of formerly hung councils at Hinckley & Bosworth, Stafford, Stratford-on-Avon and Worcester. (See below for more detailed results) ISRAELI POLICE HUNT SUSPECT A Derby man is being hunted by Israeli security forces after he allegedly attempted a suicide bombattack on a beachfront bar in Tel Aviv. Omar Khan Sharif, 27, escaped after his device allegedly failed to detonate. Another suicide bomber was successful. Derby police said Sharif had no links with the Al-Muhajiroun fundamentalist group, known to operate in the city. SHARIF SEEN DAYS BEFORE ATTACK Omar Khan Sharif, son of a wealthy businessman, was seen at his home in Derby just days before his alleged attempted suicide attack in Israel. The 27-year-old is married to a Middle Eastern woman, has two children, and a house in the Normanton area of Derby. He attended Repton Preparatory School, Milton and his father Sardar Mohammed Sharif ran the area's first kebab shop. MAN CHARGED WITH WOMAN'S MURDER A man has been charged with murder after a woman was found strangled at her Stoke-on-Trent home. Shamim Akhtar, 30, of Shelton, was discovered by police and paramedics at her house in Parkhouse Street. A 50-year-old Asian man will appear before Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates' Court charged with her murder, Staffordshire Police said. GULF SOLDIER'S FUNERAL HELD Hundreds of people have lined the streets of Stafford to remember a local soldier killed during the war in Iraq. Trooper David Clarke, 19, died on March 25, when his Challenger 2 tank was hit by a British tank round during a fierce firefight near Basra. About 200 people gathered outside the Collegiate Church of St Mary's to hear the service relayed on loudspeaker. ELECTION RESULTS IN FULL SOUTH DERBYSHIRE: Lab hold C gain 5, Lab lose 3 New council: C 15,
Lab 21
BOMB SUSPECTS STILL BEING HELD Two men and two women in Derbyshire and one Nottinghamshire woman remain in custody after being quizzed over a suicide bomb attack on an Israeli bar. Six people in total are being held at a central London police station under the Terrorism Act after a series of raids. The six arrested are understood to include suspect Omar Khan Sharif's wife, his two sisters and his brother. JUSTICE CENTRE BUILDING BEGINS Work is due to start on a £11.5m court complex in Nuneaton which will be the first of its kind in the country. The Northern Justice Centre will bring the police station, magistrates' courts, probation service and prosecutors under one roof. The building in Vicarage Street is due to open by Christmas next year and will employ more than 200 people. LANDLORD MURDERED IN OWN PUB Anyone with information about the murder of a licensee in his West Mids pub is being asked to drop messages at collection posts across the town. Father-of-five Michael Hughes, 59, was discovered by cleaners on the floor of his bedroom in the upstairs living quarters of the Royal Oak, Pelsall. Messages can be deposited at the post office, library and police office. BOYS ESCAPE ABDUCTION BID Two nine-year-old boys have escaped an attempted abduction by a motorist near Bridgnorth, Shropshire. The friends were walking in Alveley when a small white van screeched to a halt next to them and the passenger door was flung open. The male driver leaned across and tried to pull one of the boys inside before the youngsters ran off, police said. PCA TO INVESTIGATE ROAD DEATH The death of a man in a road accident in Dudley has been referred to the Police Complaints Authority. Daryl John Holt, 22, died when the car he was driving was in collision with a stationary vehicle, police said. Police followed the car because it had no registered keeper but ceased a short distance later and insist that at no time was there a pursuit. NORWEGIAN SAILORS REMEMBERED A Norwegian Navy chief is unveiling a memorial in Staffordshire dedicated to more than 1,000 of his country's seamen who died during the Second World War. Rear Admiral Kjell Birger Olsen is dedicating a plinth at the Arboretum in Alrewas to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic. A Norwegian spruce, plus maple and pine trees are being planted at the site. PROTESTS AT ZIMBABWE GAME Pro-democracy demonstrators have made a colourful protest in Birmingham where Zimbabwean cricketeers are playing. The group gathered outside the ground in Edgbaston to protest against the Zimbabwean team's England summer tour. A coalition of anti-Robert Mugabe protesters hung banners, flags and placards protesting against "murder, rape and torture in Zimbabwe". 6th. May 2003 POLICE GRANTED EXTRA TIME Magistrates have granted police extra time to quiz six people over a Derby man's alleged bomb attack in Israel. The three men and three women are thought to be family and friends of Omar Khan Sharif, including his wife Tahira, his two sisters and brother. Sharif is alleged to have been involved in a suicide bomb attack which killed three people plus another attacker. TOLL CHARGE TO BE ANNOUNCED Drivers are set to learn just how much they will have to pay to use the region's first toll road on the M6. Midland Expressway Ltd, the company operating the £485m, 27-mile M6 Toll, is to announce the charges. The road, designed to relieve severe congestion on the M6 in Birmingham, will start from a point by Junction 4 of the M6 south of Birmingham. GUNFIRE IN CLUB CREATES PANIC Hundreds of revellers fled a nightclub in Stoke-on-Trent in panic after shots were fired inside, police have said. Two clubbers in their early 20s were treated for slash wounds to their backs as the 1,500-strong crowd abandoned The Place in Hanley. One man has been arrested in connection with the shooting. Police said no-one was hit by the two rounds discharged. RECORD-BREAKER TO BEGIN NEW BID The Prince of Wales is to watch an Oxfordshire teacher leave for a second solo circumnavigation of the globe from Birmingham International Airport. Polly Vacher, from Drayton, is to begin her attempt to be the first person to fly round the world in a single-engine light aircraft via both poles. Ms Vacher flew around the world via Australia in her Piper Dakota in 2001. MAN DIES AFTER ATTACK A man has died in hospital after he was found with serious head injuries in the toilets of a Nuneaton social club. Terry Mander, 48, of Nuneaton, died after an alleged attack at the Hilltop and Caldwell Road Social Club. A 41-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Anyone with information should contact Nuneaton CID on 01926 415000. MP HAILS POLICE STAFF BOOST Worcester's Labour MP Michael Foster has welcomed the introduction of 30 new community support officers to the police force in the area. The patrolling wardens can issue on-the-spot fines and will be deployed to deter anti-social behaviour. Mr Foster said: "This will provide the highly visible patrols that local communities want to see." POLICE PRAISE FOOTBALL FANS Stoke City football supporters have been praised by police for their "impeccable" behaviour during a vital match to keep the team in Division One. Police said just two fans were arrested for disorder during the victory over Reading which staved off relegation. Stoke fans have previously been condemned for violent clashes arising from games both this season and last.
MAN CHARGED WITH CLUB MURDER A Nuneaton man has been charged with murdering a 48-year-old found seriously injured at a Warwickshire social club. Craig Lawlor, 41, is being held at Bedworth police station and is due to appear before Nuneaton magistrates. Police found Terry Mander, of Nuneaton, with extensive head injuries in toilets at the Hill Top and Caldwell Social Club. He died later in hospital. SCHOOLS REASSURED OVER BUDGETS Derbyshire education leaders have moved to reassure headteachers, governors and parents after concerns about a £12.7m "black hole" in school budgets. It is alleged that local education authorities in England have unfairly held back cash from schools. Derbyshire County Council insists its allocation will be released to the 400 county schools over the coming year. MAN SHOT BY MYSTERY GUNMAN A father has been shot and injured while cradling his 18-month-old daughter at their Coventry home. The 26-year-old was hurt when a man approached the house in Holbrooks and fired two rounds from a shotgun into the living room. The victim, who has not been named, suffered head, chest and back injuries. His daughter was unhurt. SIX HELD IN SUICIDE BOMB PROBE Anti-terrorist police have been granted another 48 hours to question six people in connection with a Derby man's alleged suicide bomb attack in Israel. Asif Mohammed Hanif, who died, and Omar Khan Sharif, who fled the scene, are said to have carried out the bombing. The six are thought to be Sharif's wife Tahira, his two sisters, a brother, a friend and his wife's brother. 700 GUNS SURRENDERED IN AMNESTY Staffordshire Police have welcomed figures showing that more than 700 guns were handed in during the month-long amnesty which ended on April 30. A total of 311 firearms, 215 imitation weapons, 215 air weapons and 39,658 rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Among the more unusual items was an Enfield 303 machine gun from a Second World War Spitfire aircraft. PRISON GOVERNOR LEAVES POST The governor of a Worcestershire prison is leaving his post after 18 months to take up a new job at Whitemoor high-security jail in Cambridgeshire. The Prison Service stressed that Martin Lomas's move away from Blakenhurst jail near Redditch was a promotion. Blakenhurst was the first West Midlands prison to be privatised but it reverted to Prison Service control in 2001. BEHAVIOUR CRACKDOWN ON BUSES More than 50 West Midlands Police officers are going on the buses in a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. The team have identified key problem routes and will place uniformed officers on buses to reassure the public during the week-long operation. The initiative is part of Operation Safer Travel, aimed at tackling crime and reassuring passengers. 8th. May 2003
JURY TO VIEW DEATH CRASH SCENE The jury in the trial of a Birmingham man accused of ramming and killing two policemen in their patrol car is expected to visit the crash scene. Leayon Davi Dudley, 39, led police on a 50-mile pursuit in his van before mounting a verge and ramming the car, Stafford Crown Court has heard. He denies murdering Leicestershire Pcs Andrew Munn, 37, and Bryan Moore, 39. IRAQI INQUESTS TO OPEN Inquests are due to be opened on two Iraqis who died in Birmingham hospitals after they were severely burned in their home country. Raeed Jabeer Amar, 14, lost his fight for life at the city's Children's Hospital after a petrol can exploded as he searched for water near Basra. Yasser Hussein, 31, died at Selly Oak Hospital, also from horrific burns. TEENAGER SHOT BY SNIPER A teenage girl from Warwickshire has been shot in the stomach by a sniper with an airgun, police said. The 14-year-old and her father were leaving a social club in Sheepy Road, Atherstone, when she was hit. She has undergone surgery at the George Eliot Hospital to remove the pellet from her abdomen and is expected to remain in hospital for several days. THREE HELD AFTER COCAINE HAUL Two men and a women are being held in Leamington Spa after police found crack cocaine with a street value of £1,600. The arrests came after the 27-year-old woman was stopped while driving on the M40 in south Warwickshire. Warwickshire Police are keen to disrupt the supply of Class A drugs after the deaths of two Leamington men, believed to have taken contaminated heroin. SHOOTING QUIZ MAN FREED ON BAIL A man arrested in connection with the shooting of a 26-year-old Coventry man as he cuddled his 18-month-old daughter has been released by police. Officers said the suspect, detained on suspicion of attempted murder, is on bail pending further inquiries. He was held after a masked gunman fired two rounds through the living room window of a house in Holbrooks. SCHOOLS AWARDED £7m IN BONUSES More than 800 West Midlands schools which scored highly in tests or improved their results have been rewarded with bonuses totalling £7m. They include Small Heath School and Sixth Form in Birmingham, where 56% of pupils got A*-C grades. The School Achievement Awards are typically worth £5,700 for a primary school and £25,700 for a secondary. BUS CRASH MOTORIST LOSES LIFE A Birmingham driver who was critically injured in a collision with a double decker bus has lost a six-week battle for life. Joseph Wilson, 55, suffered severe head injuries when his Citroen ZX was in collision with the Travel West Midlands bus in Ormond Road, Frankley. The man was taken to Selly Oak Hospital but never regained consciousness. FAME ACADEMY COMES TO BRUM Fame Academy returns with £1m bursary for talent around the
UK 9th. May 2003
A Derbyshire police officer who was jailed after he was caught on a hidden camera dealing and taking cocaine has had his sentence reduced. Former sergeant David Redfern, 42, of Hilton, had his jail term of three years and nine months cut by a year. Mr Justice Hunt at the Court of Appeal ruled the original sentence, imposed in January, had been too severe. 23 VEHICLES DAMAGED IN ATTACK A Black Country car dealer has been left counting the £20,000 cost of damage to its fleet which was sprayed with paint and racist graffiti. Staff at ASK Motors, Bloxwich, found 23 vehicles covered in orange and yellow paint and brake fluid. Two had been daubed with racist messages. West Midlands Police are asking anyone with information to contact them. MAN ARRESTED AFTER DRUGS RAID A Birmingham man has been arrested after police found crack cocaine and heroin with an estimated street value of £1,200 during a raid on a city home. The 24-year-old was arrested in Ruskin Hall Road, Aston, on suspicion of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. He is due to appear before Birmingham Magistrates' Court. 15 ARRESTS IN BUS CRACKDOWN Fifteen people were arrested in a purge on crime and anti-social behaviour on West Midlands buses, police have said. The arrests were for carrying weapons, drugs possession and threatening behaviour. One man was detained in connection with a serious wounding. In addition, 273 people were fined for fair dodging leading to nearly £3,000 being recovered in unpaid fairs. SECOND ARREST AFTER SHOOTING A second man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man in Walsall. Munaf Mohammed, an unemployed man who lived in the town, is thought to have died from a single bullet wound to the head while sitting in a stationary car. The arrested man is in his 20s and from the Wolverhampton area. Police are still questioning a 19-year-old man. HOSPITAL SET FOR NEW MANAGEMENT A hospital in Sutton Coldfield looks set to become the first NHS hospital to be managed by the private sector. The Good Hope Hospital has narrowed its search for a new chief executive to two private companies. The decision to franchise the post, and some services, came after the hospital sank from being a three-star hospital to a no-star hospital in 2002. FAMILY OF BOMB SUSPECT REMANDED The wife, brother and sister of a Derby man on the run following a suicide bomb attack in Israel have been remanded in custody on terror charges. They were arrested after a Tel Aviv blast killed three people, for which Omar Khan Sharif, 27, is being hunted. Tahari Tabassum, 27, Zahid Hussain Sharif, 46, and Paveen Sharif, 35, faced Bow Street Magistrates' Court.
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