08/12/2011 Midlands Today

Hello, welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines: only a poor

connection prevented a substantial explosion - the 10 years in jail

for a former soldier and his friend who set fire to a mosque.

Birmingham handed government funding to run the city. Power over

money. Power over infrastructure. The power to boost skills and job

so. A very serious offer for stop they want to build a bungalow and

downsize the but it will cost them thousands in a new housing tax.

And she completed her first marathon this year at the age of 83.

Now Myra has been chosen to be an Olympic torch bearer. I did ask my

surgeon if he could graft another Good evening. Tonight, sentenced to

10 years in prison for attempting to blow up a mosque in Stoke on

Trent. Simon Beech was a serving soldier when he and his friend

Gareth Foster set fire to the newly built Regent Road mosque last

December. But for a faulty connection, they could have caused

a substantial explosion when they ran a gas pipe into the mosque and

set fire to it. Both denied the charges but they were found guilty

this afternoon. Simon Beech was a soldier with the

2nd Batallion the Yorkshire Regiment. He expected to serve in

Afghanistan but he will now serve a ten-year prison sentence. In

December last year, he set fire to the Regent Road mosque which was

being built in the centre of Hanley. Following the jury's verdict,

members of the mosque committee gave their reaction. It is very

difficult to describe what happened to the mosque. It was a committee

project and a project in which the committee was involved. They put

their salt into it. They tried to destroy it. We are happy that it is

still standing. The Beech was a member of the English Defence

League. On Armistice Day he posted his views on Facebook. They

included the words, they burnt our poppies, we burn their place. The

prosecution claimed the fire was a revenge attack. It was only when

the fire on the ground floor was put out that investigators

discovered what had happened up here. A gas meter at a neighbouring

house had been cut and a pipe attached. That Pipe was run all the

way along an alleyway and then fed into the mosque. Although the

connection was very poor, if gas had built up in this whole area,

including into the Dome, any spark from a fire could have caused a

very serious explosion. The plan was hatched with this man, Gareth

Foster, who was also found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. His

footprints were found by forensic scientists in the snow outside the

mosque. There is no doubts this was designed to blow the mosque up and

as part of that, without doubt that would have caused hate in the

committee, division in the committee, broke down all the

confusion and work we do. The committee around this area have

acted with such restraint and so dignified in the face of such

provocation. The judge said to find the exposed to gas meter and around

the pipe for such a distance had required planning and for thought.

He said the purpose of that plan was to destabilise committee

relationships. In spite of this attack, work continued on the

mosque. It is due to open next year. You can hear more reaction to this

case on BBC Radio Stoke's breakfast show tomorrow morning.

Later: the awards for those who showed bravery during the riots.

Burningham is being given unprecedented new powers to raise

its own funds and decide what is and the mud. The Deputy Prime

Minister announced that City deals will give places like Birmingham,

Leeds and Manchester more freedom from Whitehall control but they

will have to prove their strong leadership in place to make it

happen. The city council will be able to set an keep local business

rates, take charge of local housing developments, transport and job

creation. We have been getting reaction to

today's announcement. It has been named by the government

as one of the nation's cause cities and with that comes new powers for

Birmingham. He power over money. Power over in the structure. Power

to boost skills and jobs. When it comes to money, the new status will

mean burning in the city council will set and keep the money it

raises from local business rates instead of getting a share of a

national park decided by central government. In Birmingham's case we

only connect 20 % of that expenditure. The 80 % comes from

central government. If we can reduce our dependence on central

government we can do more local initiatives to create employment.

which takes us to power number two. To get infrastructure projects that

Bruce growth moving but some are concerned about Birmingham city

council having too much say over deciding what happens to transport.

It is a cautious welcome, having business rates determined locally,

it is good. Infrastructure, are also good news but some concerns on

the larger level about transport schemes needing to go beyond the

Birmingham and how that would be co-ordinated with other authorities

in the Black Country. Third is the power to boost local jobs and

skills, because Birmingham city council will be able to create

apprentices harps which will bring together companies and colleges to

make it easier for them to access national funds. But the man who

runs this Pied making firm doubt that today's announcements will

help him. I am for change but what I am not for his change for the

sake of change that does not benefit anybody. They are looking

to score points than do anything that benefits business. Turning

Birmingham into a powerhouse that will rebalance the economy is what

the government aims to achieve. All eyes will be on whether handing out

power will reap the desired results. Our political editor Patrick Burns

is with us. What is the big idea behind this? Localism. The

government sees it as a remedy for the position we are in at the

moment where most people know little and care less about local

governments, so long their bit of the services development. The

government says this is a reflection of local authorities

operating within a narrow range of policy areas and something like 14-

50 % of money is spent locally and raised locally. The I deer is that

if you devolve important areas like transport and regeneration and the

budgets that go with them, then you re-energise local government and

politically another attraction is if things go wrong, you devolve the

political playing. Is this connected to the fact that

Birmingham could have an elected mayor? Yes. The government has

distanced themselves from any idea of a deal of an elected mayor. Nick

Clegg said the test is whether the right level of accountability and

leadership is there, be it through a council leader or a mayor but the

reality is the government is offering this option of having

elected mayors in cities because of those questions about leadership,

accountability, visibility. It is naive to suggest there is not some

kind of connection but it is at an informal level. What are the

chances of this happening? There has long been widespread support

for this. The key test will be between one government department

and the other. The Treasury likes to centralise control of the purse-

strings. When it comes to devolving budgets, frankly I can hear the Sir

Humphreys in Whitehall saying, minister, are you sure this is

wise? Four people had been injured

following an explosion on an industrial estate. Emerged as the

crews were called to the Oldington trading estate in Kidderminster

shortly before noon. A compressed air canister had repeatedly

exploded. A man has suffered serious injuries to his upper and

lower limbs. Three other men were treated for minor injuries.

The University of Birmingham has obtained an injunction preventing

any sit in protest on campus for the next frog mugs. It follows a

demonstration last month were 20 students barricaded themselves

inside a barricaded building to protest against tuition fees. The

injunction was taken out as the university believed the occupation

by a safety issues. The group of MPs is calling for the

boss of the BBC to meet them by the cuts to the corporation in

Birmingham. The politicians who include the International

Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell and Labour MP Giselle

Stewart have written a letter to Mark Thompson saying a decision to

reduce the BBC's presence in Birmingham is unacceptable. The BBC

plans to move production of programmes like Country File and

coast to Bristol. The spokeswoman said the BBC had received the

letter and respond in due course. A couple in the 70s he want to

downsize the they is up to �16,000 in my charges if they press ahead.

They are planning to build a two bedroom Bonneau on land next to

their existing home but they would have to pay existing -- new housing

taxes if they do. Shropshire council says the charges will

benefit communities. Malcolm and Sheila Milan-San live

here in Benthall in Shropshire. They bought a peaceable and next

door and won planning permission to build a two-bedroom bungalow so

they can downsize and sell their existing home. But they face paying

�16,000 to Shropshire council in two new charges if they build.

make things awkward. We are limited to what we can afford and

unfortunately, we want to put money on the property we want to build.

It is a problem this architect is fighting. A project for another

client will incur a total of �51,000 in charges. Larger-scale

housing developers have paid one of the charges for some time but

architect Vic Johnson claims the decision to hit people building

just a handful or one home is unfair. The problem is the smaller-

scale developers, these are people who are developing their own

gardens or building themselves a grand decide -- design project,

they had planned to do this for 20 years and suddenly the local

authority has brought in a secure the can tax that is scuppering

their plans. The council says the new infrastructure levy will help

build four new projects in the area. The added charge will go towards

affordable housing. A large builders have been paying for a

long time. When we were consulting with our core strategy on new

planning policy four Shropshire area, what they were clear to tell

us is it would be much fairer if all new housing developments paid

this rather than just the larger schemes. The council says people

can forgo the charges if they agree then the bill can only be sold to a

Shropshire resident as an affordable home. That Millinsons

say either way, they will lose money. The pensioner who is

downsizing a self-build, who pays the tax, cannot get it back. As a

developer they can get it back. It Coming up, we meet the octogenarian

who will be carrying the Olympic torch next summer.

And after a battering of the winds today, where were the strongest

ones and what more will have to withstand this week? Join me later

It has been grim enough today as it is. It hopefully cannot get worse.

145 people who showed bravery and commitment in the way they stood up

to the rioters in August will be honoured in a ceremony tonight.

Police officers, emergency staff are members of the public will be

presented with a special award by the West Midlands force. Our

reporter is at the University of Birmingham for us. Welcome to the

Great Hall at the University of Birmingham. As you say, 145 people

from all sorts of backgrounds will be honoured here tonight. Not just

police officers and civilians who bore the full brunt of facing the

rioters but also ordinary people who did simple things like keeping

officers who were dealing with the disturbances fed and watered right

through to people who organised the clean-up of the streets in the

aftermath. the sweet stall was one of the

first to be attacked during the August rides. Manager Steve Ebanks

was still inside as would-be looters try to smash their way in.

Four months on and he is being honoured tonight for doing all he

could to protect the shop in the face of the mob. It is a bit of a

surprise because I did not feel particularly brave. It would be

nice to have the chance to meet other people involved in the riot

and get their views on what happened. Police officers and other

emergency services faced an unprecedented level of violence. On

a page, a female police officer, was confronted by about 60 writers

on this road in her squad. They were called to protect people in

this Hindu Centre in Oldbury. Ed been glut of concrete coming

straight for me. -- I saw a big lump of concrete. It fortunate that

bounced off the kerb but then hit me in my right side. I had to

protect myself and colleagues from the ongoing threat at the time.

Despite suffering a fractured rib, Donna was back on duty in less than

two hours after hospital treatment. Tonight she will get an award for

her dedication. I am honoured, really. As probably

many officers were doing, we were just two in our jobs. I felt it was

my duties. The August riots brought out the worst in humility and

tonight's award ceremony also shows the brought out the best.

With me is the Chief Constable Chris simmers he will present the

awards. How will they decide -- how were they decided upon? We have got

a mixture of awards. We have got police colleagues awarded for their

contribution and also members of the public. We have had a fantastic

contribution with nominations from all sorts of quarters and we tried

to take a view about the different contributions that people made and

come up with a list of 145 awards that we are making tonight. You did

not have to hold this, you are not legally obliged so why did you

decide to hold this? I think this was a big event for West Midlands

Police and the region. We have got a delicate balance tonight. We want

to honour the great things that were done and make sure that the

tragic context that they happened in he is also remembered. I know it

is difficult to single anything out but are there any particular people

who will stand out? The officers who came under fire deserve a

particular mention and from the community side, of course the

parents of the three young men who died and he really became a symbol

of hope for the country. They are here tonight and will be honoured

by us. In a nutshell, what do you hope will be achieved by tonight?

hope that we can put the events of August into a context that we can

recognise the good that came out of them and work together to make sure

they don't happen again. Thank you for speaking to us. There will also

be music tonight and hopefully a chance to show the good spirit of

the West Midlands. We could hear the music behind you.

It will make the community feel stronger. Moving on to sport, a

difficult start to the season for Aston Villa who took a turn for the

West again today. Jermaine Jenas will not play again this season. He

has had an operation on his Achilles tendon after being

stretchered off during Saturday's defeat by Manchester United. He

will be out for six months and he has returned to his parents club

Tottenham. Birmingham City lost 2-1 at Hull

City last night. Within 90 seconds of the restart, the home side had

equalised through Robert Koren and Birmingham were beaten when Aaron

McLean scored Hull's second, 20 minutes from the end.

A bit of a shocker, that. A night for emotion and celebration here at

the Mailbox last night as a retired police superintendent from

Shropshire was named as this year's BBC Midlands Sports Unsung Hero.

Bill Moore was recognised for his years of working tirelessly Bill

Longmore. I feel overwhelmed and it will spur us on and I hope we can

really get things moving even quicker, to get more people playing

sport and involved because I think we need it. I have many happy

moments in my time but to have this award in the area I live in, it is

the top of the pile, absolutely wonderful.

Good to see Tommy Goodwin in there as well. 91 years old, he got two

medals in the Olympics in 1948. Quite tearful as well. P S, he was

a. It was a lovely event -- yes, he And he can see more of the award

ceremony on our Facebook page. And while we are talking about

Tommy could win, he was one of the six people across the region who

were told he would be able to carry the Olympic torch. Many people have

been looking out to see if they have been allowed to do as well.

Our reporter is in Droitwich Spa this evening wear another torch-

bearer is hard at work this evening. Welcome to Droitwich Spa football

club. It is cold and windy but that has not stopped a remarkable young

woman coming out and coaching the children this evening, some of the

-- Samantha Spencer who has been doing an awful lot of work for this

town. I will speak to her in a moment but first, a little reminder

of where the talk will be in our region next summer. The first time

we get to set eyes on it in this region will be on Wednesday 23rd

May with an overnight stop in Cheltenham and then it moves to

Worcester before the torch head west to Cardiff. A brief tour of

Wales and the northern England and the next time we see it here in the

Midlands will be 30th May when it spends the night in Stoke-on-Trent.

Then it goes to Northern Ireland, Scotland and then returns to the

Midlands for one last time on Saturday 30th June in Birmingham.

We have got it for the whole weekend because then it goes to

Coventry before it had to London he closed the Olympics -- to open the

Olympics. Very few will carry the torch. Samantha is 18 and Myra

Starkey who is 84 and has been chosen because her father

Makeweight for Moira Starkey, a new-found celebrity at the age of

84 -- make way. Did you think that you had been

asked to carry the Olympic torch... Why me? Queue up being very modest!

Surely there are more photogenic and nicer people than me.

Olympic Committee did not think so. I think Moira is an inspirational

person and that is what we are looking for. A once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity, people who have done inspirational things in their

community. Moira is well prepared for the Olympics, having completed

a marathon last year by walking around her village hall to raise

money to raise money for a breast Cancer Support Centre, The Haven.

It took her three months. finished it on the day of the

London Marathon and we had a super cream tea party.

You are planning another marathon? Yes, next May. I will practise for

it right now coming tomorrow if we can get to the hall. Are you hoping

to improve your time on three months? Yes. What are you aiming

for this time? Two months! The she will still be making a

bucket load of preserves that she makes for the charity that

nominated her. We have supported thousands of people with breast

cancer here at The Haven. We could not do it without the help of

people like Moira. The a Olympic torch will arrive

here on May 24th in Hereford. does not know what part of the

route she will be doing but you will be carrying the torch for

about 300 metres. I asked my surgeon if he could graft another

arm! He said, not yet, not for another 50 years. No doubt she will

manage it and says it will be a real honour. Prove that you are

never too old to live the Olympic Let's speak to another torch-bearer.

Some of the Spencer, known as Sam. You will carry the torch, how do

you feel -- Samantha Spencer. will be great. The world will be

watching you. No pressure! Why do you think you have been chosen?

have seen it is because people have recognised the numerous hours of

volunteering I have done. As you can see in the football, I have

done a lot of fund-raising as well. Let's get a word with John Glover

he can ratify what to have said. Why have they chosen Sam? She has

done a tremendous amount of work for tremendous football and also

across the counter, developing other sports for young people. She

will be a wonderful ambassador -- across the county. Congratulations

to Sam and those other people who have been successful will Sam was

named citizen of the year here intro which and started fund-

raising at 14. We met another one, The extreme weather is having a

knock-on effect for people travelling from Birmingham New

Street tonight. Many services are delayed so do check before you go

are out. With just over 156 mph reported in

Scotland, it has been terrible. The low pressure has been causing the

problems. If you/the values of the winds in half, that is how bad we

had them. These are the strongest winds. It was not just the winds

will have to contend with, it is also the cold. The winds will ease

and they're beginning to do so tonight. We will see a

transformation with the rain cleared towards the east and

temperatures plummeting down to near freezing. We have got the dry

conditions tonight but we will get frost showers affecting northern

part and we could see some ice there as well. Tonight will start

of dry and tomorrow we will see it get a bit sunny. Getting wintry

error the hilltops. It will be cold as well. The values tomorrow half

of today, we have got values of six Celsius and it will not be quite as

windy. Look at this. Blue colours writer -- right across the map and

that is because temperatures will zip down to minus six Celsius in

sport -- spots and that means plumber of the heiress of ice. That

will lead to a crisp, cold start to Saturday but otherwise dry and

sunny and we have got some rain and cloud for Sunday. Remember if there

is any disruption to travel and you want to catch up, tune into your

The main headlines following the theme, Scotland battered by a

hurricane-force winds. Schools closed and transport is disrupted.