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BISHOP HELPED IN MURDER PROBE Britain's first senior black bishop has said he took 200 phone calls at home in Birmingham about the murders of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare. The Right Reverend John Sentamu, the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, offered his home number to help police find witnesses to the New Year atrocity. He said: "I offered my phone number to anybody who wanted to speak to me." BLAIR AT BUSINESS CONFERENCE The Prime Minister is in Birmingham to try to answer concerns from business leaders that the UK is becoming a less attractive investment location. Tony Blair is addressing the CBI National Conference following a survey which revealed a "deeply worrying" trend of UK firms moving work overseas. A third of 250 company executives questioned said they had relocated. POLICE TAKE TO THE BUSES Police are taking to Birmingham's buses for the second part of an operation to tackle travelling criminals. West Midlands Police's "bus squad" will be targeting routes between Kings Heath, Hall Green and the city centre. The move, part of the Operation Safer Streets crackdown, has been hailed a success, netting 22 suspected criminals during its first week. POLITICAL PARTY MOVING TO CITY The UK Independence Party is to move its headquarters from London to Birmingham, it has been announced. The party, which calls for a complete withdrawal from the EU, says it hopes to settle into new offices in New John Street by the end of the year. Deputy leader Mike Nattrass said: "In the centre of the country we can be more accessible to all our members." SPEED BLAMED FOR PLANE OVERRUN High speed was to blame for a Britannia Airways plane skidding off the runway as it touched down at Birmingham Airport, an investigation has found. The Air Accident Investigations Branch said the Boeing 767, which had taken off from Manchester, failed to complete a left turn and ran 15m off the runway. None of the nine crew were injured and there were no passengers on board. STARS AT CITY LIGHTS SWITCH-ON Chart-topping R&B star Jamelia and Fame Academy's Lemar were among the stars performing at Birmingham's Christmas lights switch-on. The ceremony in Centenary Square culminated in the illumination of a Christmas tree fire sculpture and laser special effects. The 196ft-high wheel was also open for rides over the city. APPEAL FOR WITNESS TO DEATH Detectives investigating the death of a Warwickshire woman have made a fresh appeal for a potentially vital witness to come forward. The body of Sarah Whiting, 33, was found at a flat in Atherstone. Police said a woman, in her late 20s to early 30s with shoulder-length dark hair, may have been with Sarah in North Road on the night of her death. FASTEST CAR DESIGNER HONOURED The designer of Thrust SSC - the world's fastest car - is to be honoured by the city of Coventry where it was built and now resides. Professor Glynne Bowsher will be made an honorary Doctor of Technology by Coventry University for his outstanding contribution to engineering design. Prof Bowsher's vehicle hurtled across the Nevada Desert at 763mph in 1997. COUNCIL APPLY FOR SCHOOL Education leaders have applied to the Government to fund a £2.68m special school for north Warwickshire. The school, for up to 120 children aged two to 19, would merge Sparrowdale School and Blythe School, Coleshill, and be built on the latter's site. The plans are part of a county-wide re-organisation of education for children with special educational needs. POLICE TARGET CAR CRIME Staffordshire Police have pledged to target car criminals in three areas of Tamworth following an upsurge in vehicle thefts. Officers are delivering leaflets to residents in Amington, Glascote and Bolehall urging them to be security-conscious. Inspector Jed White said: "We want to raise people's awareness." FATHER CALLS FOR UK TRIAL The Birmingham father of one of the British terrorist suspects held captive in Guantanamo Bay is calling on George Bush for his son to be tried in the UK. Azmat Begg has written to the US President asking for his son, Moazzam, to be released from the Cuban military base and tried on home soil. Mr Begg's demand was made as Mr Bush arrives in the UK on his state visit. PAKISTAN HOLDS CITY SUSPECT Pakistan is holding a Birmingham man arrested on suspicion of involvement with al-Qaeda, the country's deputy attorney general has confirmed. Solicitors acting for Tariq Mahmood said Mansour Sultan Choudary's statement is the first official public declaration that he had been arrested. The 30-year-old's family are demanding to know where he is being held. GANG 'SMUGGLED THOUSANDS' A gang masterminded by a Birmingham man may have made millions of pounds in smuggling thousands of illegal immigrants into the UK, a court heard. Sarwan Deo, 43, of Handsworth, master forger Povytar Rai, 35, of Birmingham, and three others admit conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants. London's Harrow Crown Court heard the operation ran for 13 years. SCHOOL BLAZE SITE MONITORED Fire crews are continuing to monitor the scene of a school blaze at Great Barr, Sandwell, which forced the evacuation of more than 1,200 pupils. West Midlands Fire Service said four appliances remain at Dartmouth High School where a blaze broke out in the roof of a science block on Monday. Water is still being used on the block to cool volatile acetylene cylinders. REWARD TO HELP FIND STOLEN CAR A £1,000 reward has been offered in connection with the theft of a rare sports car from Broughton Green. The green Lola Climax Mark was built in 1960 and was driven by a number of leading racing drivers. The Lola was in a white fully enclosed trailer at the time of the theft and a grey or blue old-style Mark I or II Land-Rover was seen towing it away. APPEAL FOR FATAL CRASH WITNESS Police have made a fresh appeal for witnesses to an accident in which a Birmingham scooter rider was killed. The victim, a 36-year-old father of two, suffered fatal injuries in the Moseley area of the city last Friday. He was driving a Vespa which collided with a Ford Fiesta at traffic lights at the junction of Salisbury Road and Alcester Road at about 6.45am. CHURCH REOPENS AFTER UPGRADE An historic church which lies at the centre of Birmingham's new £500m Bullring complex is being officially reopened after a seven-year upgrade. St Martin-in-the-Bull-Ring never closed its doors during the £5m programme of improvements and repairs, but access was hindered by building work. The ceremony will be led by the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev John Sentamu. TRACK STAR TO GET DEGREE HONOUR Coventry-born athlete Marlon Devonish is to receive an honorary degree in recognition of his achievements. Coventry University is awarding a Master of Arts to Mr Devonish "for his outstanding services to athletics and the reputation of Coventry". The 27-year-old sprinter is due to receive the honour in a ceremony at Coventry Cathedral. MEN ABDUCT DRIVER IN OWN CAR Police in Birmingham are hunting two men who abducted a 19-year-old motorist in his own car. The driver had dropped two friends off at a club in Lozells when the abductors jumped into the blue Renault Laguna. One man beat him around the face while his accomplice drove the car to Hockley Circus before he was let out. The car, reg OBZ 3357, is still missing. GANG GOES ON CRIME RAMPAGE Three robbers went on an early-morning rampage across Staffordshire which began with burglarly and car theft and ended in an armed raid at a shop. The gang broke into homes in Abbots Bromley, near Uttoxeter, and Tutbury, Burton-on-Trent, and stole two cars. They struck again at a newsagent's shop in Burton, threatening a lone female assistant with a baseball bat. MURDER CASE JURY SET TO RETIRE A jury is set to retire to consider its verdict on a man accused of the murder of a teenage student who was battered to death in 1996 in Sutton Coldfield. Colin Waite, from Birmingham, raped and murdered 17-year-old Nicola Dixon after accosting her on New Year's Eve, Warwick Crown Court has heard. Waite, who denies murder, has told the court he was not in Sutton Coldfield. UNION CHIEFS TO MEET MG BOSSES Union leaders are to meet Birmingham-based MG Rover's managers to raise concerns on executive pay and pensions. Officials from the TGWU and Amicus will hold "clear the air" talks with John Towers, chairman of Phoenix Venture Holdings, which owns the company. They are also demanding to know whether reports of a £13m trust fund being set up for directors are true. MERSON DENIES ASSAULTING WIFE Walsall football star Paul Merson has denied that he assaulted his wife during an incident which led to him spending a night in police cells. The former England ace, 35, accepted a police caution after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting wife Louise. But in an interview he said he had not laid a finger on his wife in the incident at his Sutton Coldfield home. MEN CHARGED OVER DRUGS FIND Four men from Coventry have been charged with conspiracy to supply drugs after the alleged seizure of 1.3 tonnes of cannabis at a port. The suspects were detained at addresses in the city after the consignment was intercepted at Dover. West Midlands Police said the four suspects will appear before magistrates in the city later. TOLL MOTORWAY TO 'OPEN ON TIME' The country's first toll motorway is on schedule to open to traffic in the West Midlands by late January, the road's operator has announced. Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL) said it is confident that the 27-mile M6 Toll, once known as the Birmingham Northern Relief Road, will open on time. Work on the £900m highway is entering its final stages, a spokesman said. PENSIONER KILLED IN BUS CRASH A pensioner has been killed and a lorry driver injured in bus crashes in Birmingham and Wolverhampton. An 80-year-old woman, from Coventry, suffered fatal injuries after she was in collision with a single-decker in Shannon Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham. A truck driver, 51, from Dudley, suffered head injuries in a collision with a double-decker in Snow Hill. SHOP OWNER ATTACKED IN RAID A Nuneaton chip shop owner has been pistol-whipped by one of three masked robbers during a hold-up, police said. The trio entered City Chip Shop in Sycamore Road and demanded cash before striking the victim round the face. The gang fled on foot and are described as two white men and one black man, each wearing tops with the hoods drawn closely round their faces. MAN SHOT AT IN STREET CHASE Police are examining the scene in Birmingham where a man was twice shot at while being pursued on foot. The 29-year-old was targeted after he was approached by two men in Handsworth who chased him through Crompton Road and Putney Road. He managed to escape without injury while the gunmen fled in a car after the confrontation in Hutton Road. BRAVERY AWARD FOR RESCUE PAIR Two Warwickshire Police officers have been recommended for bravery awards after they plunged into a weir in the dark to rescue a psychiatric patient. Constables Adam James and Paul McDermott leapt into the River Avon in Warwick seconds after seeing the 28-year-old woman jump into the water. The patient has now returned to the hospital from where she went missing. WOMAN IS 'HIGH STREET HONEY' A woman from Worcestershire who sent a snap of herself to her soldier boyfriend in Iraq has been named Britain's High Street Honey. Kayleigh Pearson, 18, from Bewdley, received the accolade from men's magazine FHM after she also posted the photo to competition judges. The sports science student won £10,000 and a front cover photoshoot for FHM. NEW YEAR SHOOTING: MEN IN COURT Five men charged with the Birmingham New Year party gun murders of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare are due in court via a video-link. Marcus Ellis, 23, Tafarwa Beckford, 21, Michael Gregory, 21, Nathan Martin, 24, and Rodrigo Simms, 19, are all accused of killing the teenagers on January 2. The case has been transferred by city magistrates to Birmingham Crown Court. MAN GETS LIFE FOR GIRL'S MURDER A man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering a 17-year-old A-level student in Sutton Coldfield on New Year's Eve in 1996. A jury at Warwick Crown Court took just 25 minutes to convict Colin Waite, from Birmingham, of raping and killing Nicola Dixon as she walked to a party. The judge described the father of three as a "violent and dangerous man". POLICE BLUNDER CAUSED DELAY A police blunder prevented a Birmingham man from being convicted of the rape and murder of Nicola Dixon in 1996. Detectives have admitted that they could have snared Colin Waite with his own DNA, but an administrative error meant the sample was never tested. A police spokesman said: "He could have been arrested earlier if the sample had been put on the national DNA database. BEREAVED PARENTS SPEAK OUT The parents of student Nicola Dixon, murdered by a Birmingham man in 1996, have expressed relief that she has had justice at last. The comments came after Colin Waite was jailed for life at Warwick Crown Court. Speaking from the steps of the court, they thanked the many people who had stood by and helped the family through their seven-year ordeal. IMPROVING LIFE IN POOR AREAS Birmingham is hosting talks aimed at finding ways to improve the quality of life in some of Britain's poorest neighbourhoods. Ethnic minority Neighbourhood Wardens from across England are attending the event at the NEC. Jeff Rooker, Minister for Regeneration, will speak. Delegates are to share new ideas for encouraging social cohesion. FUNDS ARE NOT ENOUGH, WARNS MP Lichfield's Tory MP has expressed disappointment with the local government funding allocations announced in the House of Commons. Michael Fabricant said a hike of 2.6% for Lichfield District Council will be eaten up by central Government demands on local authorities. He said: "The increase for Lichfield does not cover the extra burdens." PEOPLE SMUGGLER JAILED An immigrant from Birmingham thought to have made up to £50m from Britain's largest people-smuggling operation has been jailed for seven and a half years. Sarwan Deo, 43, of Grafton Road, Handsworth, helped more than 6,000 illegal immigrants get to Britain. Each would have paid up to £8,000 for Deo's "complete entry service", London's Harrow Crown Court heard. MAN KILLED IN ROAD COLLISION A Moroccan national has died in a collision with a lorry as he crossed a Warwickshire road with two business colleagues, say police. The 61-year-old pedestrian was negotiating Warwick Road outside the Green Man pub in Kenilworth when the tragedy happened. The truck driver, a 42-year-old man from Oxford, was not injured. MEN ON GUEST HOUSE DEATH CHARGE Two men have been charged with manslaughter after a man's body was discovered in a Birmingham guest house. Balkhar Singh, 33, from Leith, Edinburgh, was found dead at an address in Church Road, Yardley. A police spokesman confirmed that a 36-year-old man, from South Shields, and a 40-year-old, from Hodge Hill, will appear before magistrates. M6 CONGESTION 'WILL NOT EASE' The operator of Britain's first toll motorway - built to ease congestion on the M6 - has been criticised by environmental campaigners. West Midlands Friends of the Earth claims the 27-mile route, formerly the Birmingham Northern Relief Road, will do little to ease congestion. They are unhappy that charges will not be waived when the M6 is closed. PEDESTRIAN KILLED IN COLLISION A pedestrian has been killed in a collision with a car as he walked along the A520 near Wetley Rocks, Staffordshire, police said. The victim is believed to have been about 40 years old and from the Stoke-on-Trent area. The man, who is thought to have been walking towards Weston Coyney, was pronounced dead at the scene. MURDER PROBE AFTER KNIFE DEATH A man who died after being found injured in a Birmingham street had been stabbed several times, police said The 26-year-old was taken from Regent Road in Handsworth to City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A West Midlands Police spokesman said circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear. A post-mortem examination is due to be held later. FRESH APPEAL OVER CAR DEATH Police investigating the death of a 32-year-old man found stabbed to death in his Range Rover in Birmingham have made a fresh appeal for information. Naveed Saleem was discovered slumped in the driver's seat of his vehicle in Wellesley Gardens, Moseley, in August. West Midlands Police think the killers' car may have been in a collision with another vehicle at the scene. RIVER BODY'S IDENTITY KNOWN Police say they know the identity of a man's body recovered from the River Anker in Tamworth. Staffordshire Constabulary helped to recover the body of a man in his 30s from water near Moor Lane, Amington. A spokesman said: "Police are certain they know the identity of the body but will not be releasing details until the next of kin have been informed." COUNCIL TAX RISE 'AFFORDABLE' The leader of Birmingham City Council has said he is confident any Council Tax increase over the next financial year will be affordable. Sir Albert Bore suggested any rise would be "at inflation rate or less". He added: "If the figures and our initial analyses of them are confirmed, then this will prove to be a good settlement for Birmingham." BISHOP JOINS ANTI-WAR PROTEST The Bishop of Worcester has reiterated his opposition to the war in Iraq after joining peace protestors in London. The Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby said: "Nothing has happened to change the view I took about the war - namely that it was not justified." He added: "Although we did not succeed in stopping the war, I hope that the humanitarian effort will be redoubled." MUGGER BREAKS PENSIONER'S LEG A Black Country pensioner has broken her leg after being pushed to the floor in a mugging. The 87-year-old was assaulted in New Pool Road, Cradley Heath. The thief stole her handbag and then escaped across waste ground. A police spokesman said: "This was a vicious attack on an elderly lady going about her daily life." CONCERN OVER POOR SKILLS BASE Birmingham business leaders have called for the city's skills base to be improved after figures showed workers earn less than the national average. A study based on Office of National Statistics figures showed city workers earn an average £23,744 a year, almost £1,000 below the £24,741 average. The Chamber of Commerce said poorer areas of the city needed regenerating. DRIVER ASSAULTED ON BUS A bus driver suffered cuts and bruises to his face when he was assaulted by three passengers in Wolverhampton. The men, who boarded the 698 service in the city's Stafford Street, attacked the 28-year-old driver when the vehicle reached Park Lane, Low Hill. Police said the offenders, described as two white men and a black man, are thought to be aged between 15 and 20. PHONE FOR BLIND PEOPLE ON SHOW The first mobile phone specifically designed for blind and partially sighted users is going on show for the first time at a Birmingham conference. It has no screen, but has a synthesised speech function to allow the user to make calls as well as text messages. The device is going on display at the Royal National Institute for the Blind's Techshare event at Jurys Inn. CALL TO ACCEPT MORE MIGRANTS Europe needs to accept more migrants over the next 50 years to counter the effects of an aging population, an audience in Warwick is to be told. The chair of the Commission for Racial Equality is expected to argue the benefits of immigration during a public lecture at the University of Warwick. Trevor Phillips says Europe will not have enough people to fill every job.
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