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POLICE WARNING ON FALSE CLAIMS As many as one in four allegations of robbery made in the West Midlands could be false, according to police. Officials said there were 11 fabricated robbery complaints in Birmingham city centre last month alone. Police warn that anyone convicted of wasting their time can be hit with a fine of up to £100 as part of a fresh drive to crack down on fraudsters. SHELTERED HOMES PLAN ANNOUNCED More than 50 sheltered homes are to be provided for OAPs in Stoke-on-Trent in a £3m development. The mixture of one and two-bedroom units will be built on the site of the former Broadway residential home. The 53 units will consist of 30 for "dependent" residents requiring staff support while the remaining 23 will have access to an on-site warden. MAN KILLED IN COACH COLLISION A motorist has died after his car ploughed into a parked coach in Staffordshire. The car struck the back of the vehicle as it travelled through Milford, near Stafford, at around 7pm on Sunday, police said. Staffordshire Police are appealing for any information or witnesses to the collision to contact them. PROBE INTO MAN'S DEATH Detectives are investigating the death of a Staffordshire man found collapsed in a village street. Officers and paramedics were called to Gnosall where the man, in his 30s, was discovered. He was taken to hospital but doctors were unable to save him. Police are trying to establish the victim's movements before he was found in Wharf Road at 1am on Sunday. STARS INFLUENTIAL SAYS RESEARCH Celebrities are becoming more influential to youngsters than parents, teachers and even friends, University of Coventry researchers have claimed. The researchers studied how stars like David Beckham influence the younger generation and their social networks. They found children treat celebrities as "pseudo friends" who form the subject of hours of playground gossip. MAN FIGHTS FOR LIFE AFTER FALL A builder is fighting for his life in hospital after a platform he was working on with two colleagues at a Staffordshire farm tipped over. The three men were working on an outbuilding at premises off Sandy Lane, Kinver, when they fell to the ground. All three were taken to hospital and a probe has been launched by police and the Health and Safety Executive. BUILDING WORK DELAYED BY BATS A colony of matchbox-sized bats is being blamed for holding up a £500,000 restoration programme at a 16th-century building in Kidderminster. Wildlife experts found evidence of the Soprano Pipistrelles, measuring just an inch-and-a-half, colonising Church House in St Bartholomew's churchyard. The project has been put off until the autumn to avoid disturbing the bats. DOG-LOVERS GEAR UP FOR CRUFTS Thousands of pedigree dogs and their owners will be gathering in Birmingham later this week for the world's largest dog show - Crufts. The Kennel Club has recorded 21,622 entries for the four-day extravaganza at the NEC, the third highest since the show began in 1891. They will contest various titles, the most prestigious being Best In Show. SEE OUR SPECIAL FEATURE £200,000 FOR YOUTH EDUCATION A Birmingham community centre has been awarded more than £200,000 to spend on programmes including work to deter teenage girls from getting pregnant. The Maypole Centre will invest the Department of Health cash in a Young People's Development Programme. The scheme aims to educate teenagers from the deprived Druid's Heath estate about sexual health and drug abuse. COUNTRY 'MUST RECOVER FAITH' The Bishop of Lichfield says Britain must "stop being cynical and recover faith in God". Jonathan Gledhill spoke out following a recent BBC survey which revealed Britain is one of the most secular nations in the world. He said: "This week I have been to many places in the West Midlands where the Christian faith is alive and well." LIFE SENTENCE FOR PAEDOPHILE A serial paedophile who subjected two seven-year-old boys to horrific sex attacks in a subterranean pit at his Walsall home has been jailed for life. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Thomas Titley, 46, carried out the attacks in a 6ft deep hole he had dug underneath the floorboards of his flat. Titley admitted 13 charges including indecent assault and child abduction. It has emerged that Titley warned he was a danger to children. After being released from prison in 1999 for similar offences he admitted he still posed a risk and asked for help. His lawyer said Titley had hoped to be kept in sheltered accommodation. A victims of crime group has accused the justice system of failing the public. A spokesman said: "It just shows how the criminal justice system continues to fail us." DRIVER DIES AFTER CRASH A car driver has died in hospital after leaving the scene of a road accident in Tamworth, Staffordshire Police said. The unnamed man was taken to Sutton Coldfield's Good Hope Hospital after a collision on a roundabout between his Ford Fiesta and a Volkswagen Golf. Police said all parties involved left the crash site, but the Ford driver was later taken to hospital where he died. PCs FACE CHARGES OVER DEATH Two police officers are to be charged in connection with the assault of a 38-year-old Birmingham father of three who died in custody, it has emerged. The officers will each face one charge of common assault against Michael Powell, who died after being arrested at his home in the Lozells area. The probe is being supervised by the Police Complaints Authority. DRIVER DIES AS CAR HITS POLE A 66-year-old man has died after his car left the road and collided with a telegraph pole in Wolverhampton. The victim, who has not been named, was driving along Bushbury Lane, Bushbury, when his Vauxhall Astra mounted the kerb, West Midlands Police said. A force spokesman said: "Paramedics took the man to New Cross Hospital where he was pronounced dead." BID TO ENSURE PLAYGROUND SAFETY Work has started to remove "antiquated" equipment from Newcastle-under-Lyme's playgrounds in a bid to ensure all the sites meet European safety standards. The £357,000 project to repair and replace the council's facilities follows a health and safety inspection of all 43 children's play areas. The scheme affects 20 playgrounds and will take several months to complete. PC WIFE ASSAULT CHARGES DROPPED The case against a Worcestershire police officer accused of attacking his wife three times has been dropped. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against West Mercia Constabulary PC Mark Willis, who was due before Gloucester magistrates. The 49-year-old, of Cobblers Place, Little Witley, had previously denied alleged offences of common assault. TAXIS BANNED FROM ROAD IN SWOOP More than 80% of taxis inspected in Redditch have been taken off the road following a police safety check because they were in such a dangerous state. Road safety experts who inspected 18 cabs in the crackdown issued prohibition notices against 15 of them. A police spokesman said: "We will not be happy until the failure rate is much closer to zero." TRAIN USERS FACING DELAYS Rail passengers across the region are facing delays as a series of projects get under way along the West Coast Main Line over the next few months. Large sections of the London to Glasgow route will close for upgrades, with passengers having to use buses. Network Rail said it will ensure 125mph services between Manchester, Birmingham and London are operating by September. COLLYMORE'S CAR PARK SEX SHAME Former footballer Stan Collymore, from Cannock, has begged for forgiveness after admitting he visited "dogging" sites to have sex with strangers. The ex-England striker confessed to his wife Estelle that he had driven to several sites where people watch each other having sex in their cars. "I'm so ashamed," said the 33-year-old. "I can only beg for forgiveness." DOCTOR FACES MISDIAGNOSIS CLAIM A senior doctor from Stoke-on-Trent is facing investigation by the GMC after parents complained he wrongly diagnosed their children as victims of abuse. Prof David Southall is one of Britain's leading experts on Munchhausen's Syndrome, which drives parents to harm their own children to win attention. The allegations are expected to be faced in a hearing at the GMC in June. SEX OFFENDER WORKING AS DJ A registered sex offender has been working as a children's entertainer and DJ in the West Midlands after giving police officers the slip. Alex Dalgleish, 31, of Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, disappeared 18 months ago. Police have made a nationwide appeal over Dalgleish, who has been working under the alias Gordon Milton at pubs across the West Midlands and Tamworth. DRIVER DIES AFTER LEAVING CRASH An elderly driver who died in hospital after leaving the scene of a road accident in Tamworth has been named. John Fields, 75, from School Lane, Hints, left the scene at the junction of Glascote Road and Malborough Way. Staffordshire Police said his Ford Fiesta had collided with a Volkswagen Golf on aroundabout and have appealed for information about the incident. WOMAN 'LUCKY TO BE ALIVE' A Birmingham mother said she is "lucky to be alive" after developing cervical cancer nearly 10 years after it was first identified in smear tests. Lawyers for Gail Barnett, 39, said several tests were passed as normal, but had detected pre-cancerous cells. She has received an undisclosed out-of-court settlement from Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS Trust. DUKE VISITING RESEARCH CENTRE The Duke of York is due to visit an international research centre at the University of Warwick to celebrate its first anniversary. Prince Andrew is being shown round the £70m International Automotive Research Centre at the Coventry campus. Vehicle engineering company Corus Automotive is moving a 30-strong research team to the centre. MOVES TO PREVENT ICE CHAOS Traffic chaos on icy roads may become a thing of the past, according to a new forecasting consultancy launched by the University of Birmingham. Entice Technology Ltd said researchers have produced a new system providing accurate forecasts of ice for 20-metre stretches of road. A spokesman said it means the right roads can be salted. TRIBUTES PAID TO COUNCILLOR Tributes have been paid to a Tory councillor who died after his car crashed into a telegraph pole near his home in Bushbury, Wolverhampton. Geoff Patten, 66, died in hospital after his Vauxhall Astra mounted the kerb in Bushbury Lane and hit the pole. Police are attempting to establish what happened, but it is thought he may have suffered a heart attack at the wheel. CALLS FOR GREATER SUPERVISION Child protection charities have called for greater supervision of sex offenders who are released from prison after a Walsall paedophile was jailed. The NSPCC said the case of Thomas Titley, 46, highlighted the lengths sex offenders go to to escape supervision. The charity said the probation hostel network should be extended and access to psychiatric units improved. BISHOP BACKS PRISON VOTE REFORM The Bishop of Worcester is backing a new campaign to overturn a 134-year-old law depriving prisoners of the vote. The Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby has joined politicians from the three major parties and prison reform groups in the call to reverse the ban. The Representation of the People Act 1983 contains current legislation which bars sentenced prisoners from voting. COLLYMORE CHECKS INTO PRIORY Ex-England footballer Stan Collymore, of Cannock, has checked into the Priory clinic with depression after confessing he visited "dogging sites" for sex. The former Aston Villa striker's decision comes after the BBC said it had no plans to use him as a football pundit "in the near future". Collymore admitted driving to public places to have sex with strangers. MAN HIT BY TRAIN IDENTIFIED Police have named a man who died after being hit by a train less than an hour after his ex-partner was repeatedly stabbed in her car in Birmingham. Jameel Mohammed, 29, from Moseley, was killed on a railway line near Woodbridge Road in the city on Tuesday. A 26-year-old woman, who was attacked in a green Volkswagen Polo in Hall Green, remains critical in hospital. TWO ARRESTED ON DRUGS CHARGES Two British tourists - one from Birmingham - have been arrested on marijuana charges by Jamaican police in two separate incidents in Montego Bay. They have been named as Dianne Gayle, 23, and Errol Harris, 26, of London. The two were arrested and charged with possession of, dealing in and taking steps to export marijuana and are due in court with a third man on March 4. RAPES CASE JURY TO RECONVENE The jury in the trial of a man accused of a string of sex attacks, including the attempted rape of a Birmingham girl, is due to resume deliberations. The jurors were sent home by the judge at Maidstone Crown Court last night. Antoni Imiela, 49, of Kent, denies nine counts of rape. He also denies the kidnap, indecent assault and attempted rape of the 10-year-old in Birmingham. ON-THE-SPOT FINES INTRODUCED Yobs who cause trouble in Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon are to be hit with on-the-spot fines six weeks before they come into force across the country. Warwickshire Police have decided to introduce fixed penalties in the towns following successful trials elsewhere. They allow officers to punish minor disorder and anti-social behaviour immediately with fines of up to £80. NURSE TO BE SENTENCED A Nuneaton nurse who swindled more than £45,000 from the NHS by claiming pay for shifts she had not worked is to be sentenced at Coventry Crown Court. Tatenda Tapera filled out false time sheets for two years before the crime was spotted by bosses at NHS trusts. The 27-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to 19 offences of obtaining money by deception. DOG EXTRAVAGANZA SET TO BEGIN More than 24,000 dogs and their owners are converging on the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham for the 114th Crufts show. The Kennel Club hopes 130,000 people will visit the venue for the four-day event, which is regarded as the world's most prestigious dog show. The extravaganza will culminate on Sunday with the Best In Show award. SEE OUR SPECIAL FEATURE.......click here WARNING ISSUED OVER PHONE SCAM Residents in north Worcestershire have been warned about the latest scam in which fraudsters claim to offer cheap phone calls on behalf of BT. The ruse was exposed when a Bromsgrove man received two calls from different sales reps claiming to be from BT who asked for his bank details. A call to BT established the cut-price service offered did not exist. SIX SENTENCE OVER PIRATE RADIO Six DJs, music promoters and managers have been given conditional discharges after admitting running pirate radio stations in Birmingham. The defendants, all from the West Midlands, were sentenced after admitting involvement in two unlicensed stations - KoolFM and SweetFM. The prosecution was brought by Ofcom following a probe which cost £50,000. CCTV APPEAL OVER CROSSING DEATH Police have issued a CCTV image of a man they want to trace in connection with a fatal accident on a school crossing in Walsgrave, Coventry. Grandmother Maureen McPartland, 61, died in hospital after being struck by a car on February 23 in Ansty Road. A 23-year-old man charged with causing Mrs McPartland's death by dangerous driving is due in court on March 5. PUPIL WINS JK ROWLING CHAT An 11-year-old Harry Potter fan from Sutton Coldfield has won the chance to have an online chat with JK Rowling. Vicky Harris is one of just 12 children taking part in the hour-long discussion with the teenage wizard's creator. Vicky submitted the question "How do you react when your books/movies are criticised by critics?" to the author as part of a nationwide competition. FAIRTRADE TREASURE HUNT It's "Fairtrade Fortnight" and to celebrate, there's a Fairtrade Treasure
Hunt taking place in Birmingham city centre.
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