23/09/2013 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Nick Owen and Mary Rhodes. The

headlines tonight: Tributes from the music industry to a Birmingham

teenager who was stabbed to death at the weekend. Extremely charismatic,

he was effervescent with energy, always positive, smiling. He was an

inspiration. We'll be talking to the West Midlands Deputy Crime

Commissioner about the continuing battle against knife crime.

Also tonight: The man described as a monster by police for his cruel and

violent assaults on women and children is jailed for life. The

youngest of his victims was six years old. These are dreadful

offences. Four senior doctors in management

roles during the care crisis at Stafford Hospital are told there'll

be no action against them. With fashion guru Gok Wan on stage,

will this year's Birmingham Hippodrome panto be the best dressed

in the country? And sunshine certainly seems to be out of fashion

at the moment, but if that is the case, we are bang on trend this

week. Your full forecast coming up. Good evening. Some of the country's

top rap music artists have been paying tribute to a Birmingham

rapper who was stabbed to death at the weekend. 18—year—old Joshua

Ribera, whose stage name was Depzman, was seen as a rising star.

According to West Midlands Police, knife related offences actually

dropped from almost three thousand between April 2011 and April 2012 to

just over two thousand two hundred for the same period last year. But

Josh Ribera's death, and the fatal stabbing of 16—year—old Azim Azam at

a bus stop in Moseley last week, brought the total of fatal stabbings

in Birmingham to four in the past six months.

Josh Ribera rapped about making his family proud and having his own kids

one day. But instead his relatives and friends are left grieving,

shocked by his untimely death. Recording under the name Depzman, he

is currently number one in the hip—hop album charts.

Wolverhampton—based record producer Jamin Walters says he was a rising

star. He was on the road to big things. He was definitely known by

most people, and locally, he was definitely in the top five artists

in the scene at the moment. He died here, he was on his way back from a

memorial concert to remember 16—year—old close friend of his who

was stabbed to death last September. His friends say they hope is high

profile will make people talk about knife crime. Depzman was known and

looked up to buy so many kids. Last Monday, 17—year—old as eMac Azzam

was stabbed to death as he got off a bus. Some fear Birmingham is

becoming the stabbing capital of Britain. The police need to be much

more open with their communication. There is a strong education element

that needs to be a part of this as well. But the police say it is not

just up to them to get the message across. It is about everybody

getting the message across to young people if you carry a knife you're

liable to get stabbed. Two 18—year—old men are being questioned

about Joshua Ribera's death. His name and message will live on.

Teachers at a Birmingham school have voted to stop teaching a teenage boy

who threatened other pupils with a knife. The boy was permanently

excluded from Saltley School after a 'serious incident' but governors

have since overturned the decision. The move has angered parents and

teachers. In May, West Midlands Police were

called to Saltley School in Birmingham after reports a pupil was

threatening others with a knife. Officers took no further action. The

school permanently excluded the teenage boy. But before the summer

holiday, governors decided the pupil should be allowed back into classes.

This parent, who has two children at Saltley School, says she's concerned

for the safety of pupils. She doesn't want to be identified. This

young boy threatened several children and you can imagine the

dilemma we're facing. You know, what's going to happen in school? Is

this boy going to hurt one of our children. What happens if he does

hurt one of them? It really does scare us."

It's clear some teachers also have concerns. Following a ballot, the

NASUWT union has confirmed its members have voted to refuse to

teach the pupil and are in further talks with the school. In a

statement, the head teacher said I have total confidence in the safety

of all pupils and staff at Saltley School. He said we don't have one ——

we did have one incident, and it went through due process. The needs

of all pupils are being met, he added. Tonight, local Labour

councillors are calling for an investigation. It is very

important, considering the recent stabbings of youngsters in

Birmingham, there is a lot of unrest amongst the community, and the

youngsters. It is really important a thorough investigation must take

place. Birmingham City Council says it is acting as a mediator. This

year, Ofsted gave Saltley School a 'good' rating and found their

students are being kept safe. With me now is the Deputy Police and

Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Yvonne Mosquito. Another

young person stabbed to death in Birmingham. It seems like you're

losing the battle. We are not losing the battle. Another life is too many

lives, it is tragic and we went to express our condolences to the

families of those who have lost their loved ones in these horrible

circumstances. But over the past decade, knife crime has gone down,

it hasn't increased. It is no consolation to any member, any

family that has lost someone, but that is the reality. Knife crime has

gone down. But it is still occurring. You seem to have lost

lots of initiative over that time. It is still happening? It is, and it

is horribly unfortunate. The fact that we have lost life, but crime

has gone down over the decade, 50% of all knife crime has been reduced.

The police are working with the community, with schools, local

organisations, Crimestoppers. 45,000 youngsters are in schools with a

firearms officer. A lot of work has been going on. But is it enough?

Charity we spoke to has said that some young people are scared.

Absolutely. I would say it is never enough. We all have a duty to reduce

this. One life is too much, for lives is too much. Any life gone in

these circumstances is tragic. We all have a duty. We want to work

together to educate young people, and the young people themselves want

to do something about it. There is called for knife amnesty. Do you

think that the governors at Saltley School were right to reinstate that

pupil? I don't know the facts of the case but I will be speaking to the

Chief Constable tomorrow. Thank you. Coming up later in the programme: Do

urban otters have a different diet from their rural counterparts? Otter

spotters inspect their droppings to find out.

A violent paedophile described by a senior detective as a "monster and a

bully" has been jailed for life. 39—year—old Karl Clay, from

Coventry, committed offences against ten victims over a 16—year period.

Clay's reign of terror began in 1992, but he evaded justice until

2011 when two victims finally plucked up the courage to talk to

police. His victims included girls, boys and women and he used extreme

violence. In 1994, he smothered a woman with a pillow then raped her.

In 2004, he stabbed a fork into a teenage boy's foot. And, in 2005, he

terrified two children into submission after squirting them with

lighter fuel and threatening to set it alight. Our reporter Giles

Latcham joins us now from our Coventry studio. A terrible set of

crimes, Giles. How did they go undetected for so long? Put simply

through intimidation. He's a big man as well as a brutal one and for

years his victims were too scared to speak out. But two years ago two of

them found the courage to tell their mother and that led to a police

investigation and eventually to a month—long trial which ended in

July. Clay, from the Wood End area of Coventry was convicted of a

catalogue of what the judge called terrible abuse, including two counts

of rape, attempted rape, actual bodily harm, indecency with a child

and indecent assault. His youngest victims aged just six and four. The

police officer who invested —— who investigated Karl Clay is the same

one who led the investigation into the murder of Daniel Pell car. He

describes Karl Clay as a monster and a bully. Quite possibly he is the

vilest perpetrator I have dealt with. Not only did the subject is

victims to suggest it —— sadistic sexual offences, he was also very

violent. On one occasion he poured petrol on his victims. They must

have been absolutely terrified by this man. Clay is now facing a very

long time in jail, isn't he? He was given two life sentences with a

recommendation that he serve at least 15 years before he's

considered for parole. The judge said he'd targeted the most

vulnerable, that in the case of his youngest victims, he'd "taken away

their childhood". They lived with fear and distress, she said, which

had scarred their lives. The police have released three separate

pictures of Clay, the earliest dating back to 1998. Point being

they're convinced there are other victims of Clay out there yet to be

identified. They say they will seek justice for them.

The General Medical Council is dropping action against four senior

doctors who had management roles at Stafford Hospital during the time of

the scandal over care. The GMC says its decision was based

on legal advice that there wasn't adequate evidence to pursue the

cases. Our Health Correspondent Michele Paduano is with us. What is

the detail behind the GMC deciding that they couldn't pursue this?

Three of the doctors, they were either medical director or deputy

medical director of the hospital. The General medical Council called

in Tom Clark, the person responsible for leading a public enquiry. It

didn't seek to find blame, so they couldn't use that against them. The

previous reports were not at a sufficiently high level to establish

blame. Witnesses had not come forward in sufficient numbers, and

those that have worked quite supportive of them. When they were

making complaints, they were falling on deaf ears. This lack of action

against the doctors, rather frustratingly the premise to? Very

much so. It doesn't matter if they harm the patient in the past, they

can only be punished if they are still a risk to patients. When the

Prime Minister was talking he was extremely frustrated about the fact

that no doctor had yet been struck off. I believe the regular to rebut

is in particular are going to have difficult questions to answer. The

nursing and midwifery Council need to explain why no one has been

struck off. The Secretary of State for health has invited them to

explain what steps they will take to strengthen their accountability in

the right light of this report. And what of the relatives, what have

they have to say about this? Not surprised. I spoke to Julie Bailey

in Brighton today, and one of the rather frustratingly is as you don't

get to find out what the evidences from which decisions are made. She

is sure on her own mind that these doctors knew what was going on. And

that they should be aware of the appalling things going on on the

wards. Research has begun in Warwickshire

to see what urban otters eat in comparison with their country

cousins. Researchers will be examining their

droppings — or spraint — to see how different the diet of rural otters

is from those that pass through our towns and cities. Our Rural Affairs

Correspondent David Gregory—Kumar is down by the waterside right now and

can tell us more. I've been doing this job for at

least a decade and while we've talked about the otter resurgence in

that time they really are doing well and are in canals and rivers in our

towns and cities. As you said, researchers have been out in

Stratford. We met one who is using a long spoon to get hold of otter

droppings. This is to see if their diet is different. Quite likely,

because they have different things, all different types official that

might be available. They could be eating, scavenging, all around the

city. Like foxes and badgers. They could eat the remains of someone's

chicken down by the Riverside. With me is Paul Wildlison from the canals

and rivers trust. Paul, you do work to encourage otters, don't you? We

know they have occasionally been passing through. We don't know what

the barriers might be, if any. We are appealing to people to get in

touch with us because we have 600 kilometres of Canon Alan the

Midlands. If people are not sure to look for the signs of otters, we

have been training courses for people to come along and do some

monitoring. Are they passing through or living here? They are probably

passing through at the moment. Birmingham city centre, they will

pass through 20 kilometres for females or 40, mutters for males.

You do not have to travel very far to get decent habitat, but in this

area there might not be enough for shelter and rest. Thank you very

much. That's all from the canalside. And there will be more on the otters

returning to our towns and cities on Inside Out tonight. Join Mary for

that and other stories at 7.30pm. This is our top story tonight: Top

rap artists pay tribute to a Birmingham teenager who was stabbed

to death at the weekend. Your detailed weather forecast to

come shortly. Also in tonight's programme, a stunning start for

Jesse Lingard, on loan from Manchester United, scoring all four

goals for Birmingham City. And having them in stitches, stylist

Gok Wan among the stars for the UK's biggest panto at the Hippodrome.

Onto sport, and there's a big night of speedway in prospect tonight as

Wolves take on local rivals the Brummies in the Elite League

Play—offs. Our reporter Dan Pallet is at

Monmore Green. Wolves fans had been hoping to welcome back Tai

Wooffinden as World Champion, they're going to have to wait,

aren't they? That's right. He is not even here. The two teams are on the

track at the moment. Tai Woffinden Isn't here at all and he is not yet

world champion. That's because he broke his collarbone for the time

this season. That did not stop racing on, and inch closer to

winning that world title. Who wouldn't be in pain with their

collarbone sticking out like that? But Tai Woffinden rode through the

pain barrier and is now on the verge of becoming World Champion. And the

setback came very early in Saturday's Swedish Grand Prix.

Woffinden crashed into Tomasz Gollob in his bery first race leaving the

pole with concussion and a back injury and breaking his own

collarbone. But with the world title at stake he decided to ride on

through the pain barrier. He finished second twice, and then a

sensational start saw him win the race. Eventually the pain became too

great and in his fifth race of the night he had to withdraw. But the

seven valuable points he won on the night means he needs just six more

in the season's final grand prix to clinch the title. It's the second

time Woffinden's broken the collarbone this season — this time

he's also bent the metal plate supposed to hold it in place. But

Tai Woffinden doesn't lack for bravery — not with the World

Championship in sight. An incredible night on Saturday. Let's find out a

bit more about Tai Woffinden. How we see this evening? The medical advice

is to take rest. He is going to continue racing and make the final

decision about what to do with the collar bone. It got bent in the

accident on Saturday night. A terrific anti—climax for everybody.

We were convinced we were going to be welcoming the speedway champion,

and there we have got to wait two weeks. Shows how tough he is that he

went on and all that pain? Amazing performance. The lad, you know, it

was an amazing performance. Still a big night tonight. How much are you

looking forward to it? It is the biggest night we have had for years.

Arming and have done remarkably well. We have sneaked into the

play—offs. These two next Monday are going to be so important for Midland

speedway and we are delighted to be hosting the first leg tonight.

Perhaps he could race for you this season again. What do you think? The

plus point is we are going to have a Midlands team in the grand final.

Just a few hours before he had his injury, I can man got his big break

with Birmingham City. His name is Jesse Lingard, on loan from

Manchester United. He celebrated by scoring all four goals. I am very

nervous. A lot of pressure. I did that and got a few goals as well.

That is an understatement. Jesse Lingard is very modest, very laid.

Just 20 years old, his first goal came in his professional debut. Nine

minutes later, Jesse popped up again to double Birmingham's lead against

Sheffield Wednesday. And barely four minutes after that, he pounced once

more to lead the Blues' fans at Cloud nine. It was like a dream, to

be fair. But Jesse had one more trick up his sleeve, six minutes

after half—time. You hope that he makes an impact but you don't think

in your wildest dreams that he will score four goals. I am not sure

Jesse would remember Trevor Francis. He has now set himself up, such a

high standard. What sort of weekend has it been for you? It has been

hectic. I watched the Derby yesterday and back to training

today. A lot of text? Yeah, a lot of messages from my family and friends,

another confidence booster. West Bromwich is a wonder first Premier

League game of the season. —— West Bromwich also one their first game

of the season. Villa won 1—0 at Norwich. But pride of place tonight

goes to Jesse Lingard. He has been with Manchester United since he was

seven, but whatever happens in the future, he will never forget his

standing ovation on the day he scored four goals on his Birmingham

City debut. Not a bad weekend for Midlands

football teams. The second leg is a week today, you can listen to it on

BBC WM. Thank you very much. An excellent

atmosphere. There are only 93 shopping days left

until Christmas which also means panto season isn't far off either.

The line up for the UK's biggest show was revealed today. It takes

place in Birmingham and our Arts Reporter Satnam Rana went along to

meet the stars. A warning that her report contains flash photography.

Panto posing for a prince, Snow White, a living mirror and a Dame.

And today the cast of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were meeting the

media at the Hippodrome in Birmingham. This year the panto is

full of 'firsts' with a debut from TV fashion guru Gok Wan. It is my

opportunity to go hyper octane camp. I am going to go to town with

it. How does it work being a mirror but a person? Snow—white, one of the

most famous lines is mirror mirror on the wall. At that moment I jump

in. And then there's The Dame, a first time role for Gary Wilmot —

whose mum was born in Birmingham. It is a great honour to play the role

of the Dame. But you think I've got to get it right for all those people

that have plagued the Dame, all those kids who don't know what the

day Ms. We have got to make it a great experience for them. The

production costs £1 million plus to put on and has a cast of 24 actors.

Many of them like John Partridge are TV favourites.as well as playing

christian slater in Eastender he was also a judge on TV talent show, Over

The Rainbow. The winner of the show, Danielle Hope, is Snow White. I just

finished a stint at the London Palladium. This pantomime really is

the Palladium pantomimes. We have got an amazing cast here, seasoned

professionals. Today was the first time costumes were shown off as well

as the set. This is the biggest panto in the UK. It will have a six

and a half week run and 77 shows. Panto is a money spinner for

theatres. And for actors a time to inertact with their audience as well

as get stuck into the fun and frivolity of the festive season.

Looks good. We are not quite at Christmas yet.

The final round of the cricket County Championship matches start

tomorrow — tell me it's going to be warm and dry, Rebecca.

tomorrow — tell me it's going to be warm Warm and dry, yes, but if today

is anything to go by, it might not be too good. We have had a big

blanket of cloud sitting over us. The sun has really struggled to get

through that. It has affected temperatures. We only got up to 17

or 18 across the region. Elsewhere, we managed to make it up to the 20s.

It will stay settled through the next few days to say the least. High

pressure is sitting over us. We are still drawing in warm air, but by

the middle of the week, it will start to change because we are going

to see the return of showers. We still have cloud sitting over us to

night. Through the night we will see dry air pushing, moving that cloud

out of the way. When we get those clearing skies, we could see mist

and fog patches developing by tomorrow morning. Where the cloud is

sticking, temperatures will be helped. It will be a misty, grey,

cloudy start. We will see the sun burning through that cloud. Because

the sun is quite strong and we have got that milder air, temperatures

could shoot up into the 20s tomorrow. There will be plenty more

sunshine to come through the afternoon. Then, very similar to

what we have seen this afternoon and tonight, the holes in that cloud

will be filled in. We could see the odd shower through the night across

Herefordshire. Another mild night to come, the average is up to 14

Celsius. As we move through to Wednesday, things are starting to

change. This area of low pressure is waiting to moving, throwing weather

fronts at us as we move into Wednesday and Thursday. By Thursday,

we are starting to see the return of showers through the day. The best of

the conditions to the next few days look to come tomorrow. As we move

through Wednesday and Thursday, the return of showers with more to come

through the weekend I'm afraid. Let's recap tonight's top stories:

Terror in Nairobi — the siege at a Kenyan shopping mall continues — 62

people are now dead including four Britons.

And top rap artists pay tribute to a Birmingham teenager who was stabbed

to death at the weekend. I'll be back at 10pm, including the speedway

results. Have a great evening. Goodbye.