Browse content similar to 11/10/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Brutal, | :00:06. | :00:10. | |
depraved and disgusting — a judge jails two 17—year—olds for | :00:10. | :00:12. | |
subjecting another teenager to sexual torture and humiliation. Also | :00:12. | :00:18. | |
tonight; We'll be live at the privately run Oakwood Prison. As | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
three inmates stage a rooftop protest, the jail was heavily | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
criticised this week for poor safety levels. A positive turn of events — | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
the Warwickshire exhibition company building a new HQ and creating 350 | :00:29. | :00:38. | |
jobs. It is a significant investment for the business and should bring a | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
Sigg captain regeneration for the area. Putting the spa back into | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
Droitwich — the campaign to reopen the brine baths. And Rebecca has the | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
weather. Waterproofs at the ready, we've got a wet and windy weekend to | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
come. But is it looking like a total washout? I'll have the full forecast | :00:56. | :01:10. | |
later. Good evening. Two 17—year—old boys have been jailed for ten years | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
each for assaulting another teenager in Glocucester. They attacked him a | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
cellar, and subjected him to sexual humiliation and torture, including | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
burning him with a cigarette. The judge took the unusual step of | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
allowing the media to name the pair, Kane Lammin and Anthony Ford, after | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
labelling them as dangerous offenders. From Gloucester Crown | :01:25. | :01:36. | |
Court, Steve Knibbs reports. Anthony Ford from Swindon and Kane Lammin | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
from Gloucester. The court heard they carried out a sustained assault | :01:40. | :01:47. | |
on their 17—year—old victim. It was a prolonged physical and sexual | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
attack. The nature of some of the crimes are too distressing to | :01:53. | :02:00. | |
report. They lured the victim to this cellar and stripped him and | :02:00. | :02:07. | |
physically and sexually assaulted him. Kane Lammin mixed concrete | :02:07. | :02:14. | |
prouder and pushed —— powder and pushed it into his face. | :02:14. | :02:20. | |
What do you make of Kane Lammin and Anthony Ford? Scum. Utter scum. I | :02:20. | :02:32. | |
hope they rot in hell for what they have done. It is time for them to | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
have a bit of hell back. This is Anthony Ford arriving at court. | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
Before he was arrested he told a witness that the victim was lucky — | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
because he wanted to kill him. Him and Kane Lammin blame the influence | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
of drink and drugs. This case nearly didn't make it to court, because the | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
victim was too ashamed to talk? Yes, there was a small investigation team | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
and looked at gaining evidence from all aspects to provide a | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
prosecution, whether the victim was to give evidence or not. But he | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
showed a lot of courage and has given evidence. Because they're both | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
17, we wouldn't normally be allowed to name Kane Lammin and Anthony | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
Ford, but the judge said it was in the public interest to lift that | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
ban. He branded them as dangerous offenders and they had added years | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
on their sentence. He said it amounted to sexual torture and | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
humiliation and jailed them both for ten years each. Coming up later in | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
the programme: Putting the police fully in the picture — | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
Staffordshire's frontline officers wearing body cameras to help gather | :03:39. | :03:45. | |
evidence. Oakwood Prison near Wolverhampton was put into lockdown | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
today after three prisoners got onto the roof. It comes in the same week | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
that an inspection report was released which described the | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
privately run facility as failing in almost every respect. Our reporter | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
Giles Latcham is at Oakwood for us now. So what's happened there today? | :03:57. | :04:09. | |
It started about lunchtime, three inmates getting on to the roof on | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
one block. We have got a distant shot of them. They were up there for | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
about five hours before a cherry picker appeared and they persuaded | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
them to end the protest. We don't know what the protest was about, but | :04:24. | :04:31. | |
it has come at the end of a bad week for the prison and G4S. The report | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
criticising the management and rating the prison as poor. We heard | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
also from the family of an inmate who died here, who say he received a | :04:40. | :04:48. | |
standard of care below what they expected. The MP for the area is | :04:48. | :04:54. | |
Gavin Williamson. You will be aware the nick name is Joke Wood. It | :04:54. | :05:00. | |
appears to be a shambles. It is dreadful. We have seen a situation | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
where inmay wants have been on the roof and there has been a loss of | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
control. This must be addressed. The decision by your Government to award | :05:07. | :05:13. | |
G4S a £750 million contract looks poor value for money. Most of my | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
constituents and most viewers don't want to see the government spending | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
£30,000 a year to keep people in prison. They want to drive down the | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
cost of keeping people in prison. What we have got to see is how we | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
can get the best value for money, but making sure this prison is | :05:31. | :05:34. | |
properly run and that it is well run. Looking forward, the Justice | :05:34. | :05:42. | |
Secretary's remarkets in February, Oakwood is a model for the future. | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
That needs revuz sitting — resiz sit — revisiting. We don't want to pay | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
over the odds to keep people in prison, but we have to make sure | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
prisons are well run and secure and the staff are properly trained and | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
more importantly is my constituents are safe and that there is no chance | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
of inmates getting out. Thank you. A couple of ambulances left shortly | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
after this incident. G4S said no one was injured. But they are conducting | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
their own investigation. Thank you. A Warwickshire—based company which | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
works in the events industry says they're beginning to see signs that | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
the economy is growing. Freeman is expanding in the UK— creating | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
another 350 jobs and building new headquarters. Laura May McMullan | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
reports. Freeman are a company on the move. They set up large scale | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
exhibitions and like to make a big impression. They're also in big | :06:39. | :06:46. | |
demand. They've provided displays, stands and big screens for the | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
Chelsea Flower Show, the Grand Prix and the Olympics. In fact the | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
company services more than 1,000 events a year. ??FORCEWHITE Demand | :06:53. | :07:02. | |
for their service is growing. That's why in the next year a new | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
headquarters will be built at the Prologis Park at Ryton near Coventry | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
and create 350 jobs. The exhibition event industry, we are usually the | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
first to notice when a recession starts, because we are the first | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
budget to be cut, but when the market starts to recover, we are the | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
first to see the green shoots and we are seeing those. That is part of | :07:20. | :07:32. | |
our decision to invest here. And the owner flew over. My father started | :07:32. | :07:38. | |
the business in the United States in 1927 and we have grown through there | :07:38. | :07:45. | |
to be one of the largest exhibition contractors in the world today. | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
Across the county there are a vast number of developments which will | :07:51. | :07:54. | |
create more employment. It's hoped the £300 million MIRA technology | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
park will bring in more than 2,000 jobs. And the Coventry and | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
Warwickshire Gateway, will eventually provide up to 10,000 new | :08:01. | :08:10. | |
jobs. Over the next few years we can attract up to 20,000 jobs to this | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
region. Confident the economy is looking healthy here. Opportunities | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
at Freeman are already being advertised. The company hopes to | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
have all its new staff in place by next summer. And there'll be more | :08:24. | :08:31. | |
about the employment picture here in the Midlands on the Sunday Politics | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
this weekend at the slightly later time of 11.15 on BBC1. This week | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
Patrick Burns will be asking why almost 200,000 people are | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
underemployed when they'd prefer a full time job and you can find more | :08:40. | :08:51. | |
on his blog. Two men have pleaded guilty to setting fire to a Mosque | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
in Gloucester in June. 37—year—old Clive Ceronne and 20—year—old Ashley | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
Juggins admitted a charge of arson relating to an attack on the | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
Masjid—E—Noor Mosque. They'll be sentenced next month. A coroner is | :09:00. | :09:07. | |
to write to the Government after a man died from a caffeine overdose | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
after eating too many high energy mints. 40—year—old John Jackson from | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
Darlaston, who suffered from a serious liver condition, ate a whole | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
tin of Hero Instant Energy mints. Each one contained 80 milligrams of | :09:16. | :09:32. | |
caffeine. Staffordshire Police have begun issuing body camera kits to | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
all frontline officers. The force believes it's the first in the UK to | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
give all officers the equipment. The camera pictures can be used in | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
evidence, and are part of the force's police and Crime | :09:42. | :09:44. | |
Commissioner's pledge to used technology to help officers work | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
more efficiently. Liz Copper has more. On patrol from a PC's point of | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
view. These officers checking on businesses in Newcastle—under—Lyme | :09:51. | :09:53. | |
are among the first to get these cameras. They're attached to police | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
uniforms and will be used for evidence—gathering. We would write a | :09:56. | :10:03. | |
witness statement and describe the scene, now we have video evidence, | :10:03. | :10:06. | |
it gives us real time evidence. The court sees what we see when we go to | :10:07. | :10:15. | |
these incidents. Here the cameras were used during the pursuit of a | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
suspect. They can also capture evidence from witnesses and victims | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
of crime. At the end of their shifts, officers return to a central | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
hub where footage can be viewed. 530 of these cameras have been | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
purchased, that is enough for every front line police officers, PCSOs | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
and specials. The cost has been around a third of a million pounds. | :10:31. | :10:37. | |
Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner made acquiring new | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
technology an election pledge and insists the cameras will be good | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
value for money. There will also be safeguards in place to protect the | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
public. They will only be used as an incident kicks off. So it is not a | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
question of police officers walking around filming everything, it is | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
very targeted. What do voters make of the new cameras? For some people, | :10:56. | :11:00. | |
yes, they may see it as an intrusion of privacy, this that and the other. | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
But I think filming has benefits and it clarifying the fact that one word | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
against another is one thing, but when it is there in black and white | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
on film, there is no disputing it. Some people might not want to be | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
filmed, so I would say no, it's not a good idea. They say the camera | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
never lies, so yeah, brilliant idea. All officers will receive training | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
to use the cameras over the next few months and the success of the scheme | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
will be monitored not just in Staffordshire, but in other force | :11:29. | :11:38. | |
areas too. This is our top story tonight: Brutal, depraved and | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
disgusting — a judge jails two 17—year—olds for subjecting another | :11:41. | :11:43. | |
teenager to sexual torture and humiliation. Your detailed weather | :11:43. | :11:52. | |
forecast to come shortly from Rebecca. Also in tonight's | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
programme: From a 400 metre sprint to a half marathon, the sportsmen | :11:55. | :12:01. | |
stepping outside their comfort zone. And going head to head — the two | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
Birmingham Choirs through to the Songs of Praise Gospel final. | :12:04. | :12:18. | |
Droitwich Spa has been without its brine baths for five years. A | :12:18. | :12:24. | |
meeting was held today as part of a campaign to get the historic baths | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
reopened. The natural springs in the area contain one of the strongest | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
concentrations of salt in the world — which at 30% is similar to the | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
waters of the Dead Sea. Bathing in the waters became fashionable in the | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
late nineteenth century, but the last public brine baths in the town | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
closed in 2008. Our reporter Ben Sidwell is in Droitwich Spa for us | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
now. So does today's meeting mean they could be reopened? Well that is | :12:47. | :12:56. | |
what they have been discussing in this meeting. We will find the | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
results in a few moments. Sips Roman —— since Roman times they have been | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
connected with brine and it is the only Spa town without any Spa | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
facilities at all. To they're desperate to get the brine baths | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
back. In their heyday people travelled from far and wide to | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
experience the brine baths of Droitwich Spa. Today the entrance to | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
the baths is the town's museum and tourist information centre. The site | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
of the pools, a private hospital, where the last brine bath in | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
Droitwich Spa closed in 2008 on health and safety grounds. There is | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
no future for the brine baths on the site where it is. So it has to be | :13:38. | :13:45. | |
somewhere different. So the future is quite dull until somebody comes | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
forward with some money. Right up until their closure the baths were | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
used as a medicinal aid and a leisure experience. Now campaigners, | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
doctors and businesses in the town are joining forces in an attempt to | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
get them re—opened. The private hospital wouldn't let us film | :14:01. | :14:02. | |
inside, but in a statement said: For businesses like the St Andrew's | :14:03. | :14:18. | |
Town Hotel, a new brine bath will bring more than just health | :14:18. | :14:26. | |
benefits. The amount of tourist foot fall we have is not as strong as it | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
could be. With the brine baths, I just cannot begin to imagine how | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
much of an impact that would have. But for us it would be enormous. | :14:34. | :14:40. | |
??FORCEDWHTIE If the baths don't return, there's already talk that | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
the town could lose it's Spa title, but campaigners say that's simply | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
not an option. In our view, it is going to happen. We put five years | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
of work into this already and we are prepared to go for another five | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
years if necessary. But take it from me it is going to happen. But with | :14:54. | :14:59. | |
the cost of a new brine bath estimated at anything between £1 and | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
£3.5 million, it could be a long time before anyone's able to enjoy | :15:03. | :15:11. | |
the town's water again. The meeting finished a couple of moments ago and | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
there was the local MP. What was the outcome of the meeting? We had a | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
unified sense of purpose and we have an exciting offer, the brine water, | :15:23. | :15:29. | |
which is special, we think we can make an attractive offer to a | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
private investor. This is part of the heritage of the town. It is the | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
heritage of the town. Droitwich is built on salt and the meeting we can | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
more confident that we can rebuild that salt heritage. Is there a | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
chance that it could go back to where it is in the private hospital. | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
I think we need to look more broadly. There are other sites too. | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
We have the right facility that people can use and the Spa has | :15:56. | :16:03. | |
benefits. We are going to make it attractive to a private investor. | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
What is the real chance of this happening. It is better tonight than | :16:07. | :16:14. | |
a long time. We have a unified sense of purpose. What they say is they're | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
desperate for their heritage back here. It is part of tourism. Without | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
this, this could be just yet another commuter town. Thank you. A | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
delegation from Coventry has been visiting Yorkshire today to see how | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
restoration work has been carried out at a monastery which was linked | :16:32. | :16:36. | |
to the city's own Charterhouse Priory. They were hoping to pick up | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
ideas about how to reopen Charterhouse to the public and even | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
ended up being blessed by a vicar for their trouble. Kevin Reide | :16:42. | :16:51. | |
reports. This is the the former monstery in Yorkshire. Today a team | :16:51. | :16:57. | |
of dignitaries from the town came to see it for ideas on how it can be | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
transformed. We are looking at plans to open it up to the public for a | :17:02. | :17:08. | |
heritage park on some 38 acres. The whole idea is to look at how English | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
heritage run their own attraction and the budgets they're spending and | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
how they operate their staff and get ideas for what displays we should | :17:18. | :17:25. | |
put into our Charterhouse. We have re—created one building that the | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
movengs would —— monks would live in. They lived a very austere life | :17:30. | :17:36. | |
and were encouraged to believe they had no self—worth. They had no | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
possessions. So they lived a very harsh, personal life. Spending most | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
of their time in contemplation and prayer. And word in these parts is | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
those who broke their silence were September to Coventry's Charterhouse | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
— hence the term sent to Coventry, but that has been dismissed. That | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
story came from the round heads and cavaliers, where the royalists were | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
imprisoned in Coventry and in St John's church. We have come to put | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
them right they can't nick sent to Coventry. It is ours. We give | :18:12. | :18:19. | |
thanks... The visit ended with a blessing from clernly from Coventry | :18:19. | :18:35. | |
and the area around Mount Grace. Here's Dan Pallett with the sport. | :18:35. | :18:42. | |
And rugby. It's been a disappointing start to the season for Gloucester | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
rugby club. They've only won two league matches and are third from | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
bottom of the Premiership. And life is unlikely to get any easier this | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
weekend as they start one of the toughest groups in the European Cup. | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
Nick Clitheroe reports. After their stuttering start to the season, | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
every one of Gloucester's players have been told they will get a | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
chance in the club's first two European cup matches. So there's | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
been an intensity at training this week as they try to impress the | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
coaches ahead of the visit of Perpignan. They're big lumps, all | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
across the park, not just in the forwards but in the backs, we know | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
some of the running ability they have got there, a couple of old | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
players we have got there are now playing out there and they have some | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
quick backs, so a very good side. Gloucester are expected to challenge | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
at the top of the English rugby, but find themselves at the wrong end of | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
the Premiership table after their early struggles. They have even lost | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
at Kingsholm — where visiting teams used to fear to tread. Being drawn | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
in a European group which also includes Munster has just added to | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
the pressure. So what is going wrong? Results have perhaps | :19:41. | :19:50. | |
justified some of the criticism. But they have a young side there, very | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
capable personnel. But the key thing for them is about taking their | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
chances when in the opposition 22 and keeping the pressure on. Their | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
discipline's letting them down and it's costing they will field | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
position and they're inviting pressure on themselves. From our | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
point of view we just want to enjoy the moment and enjoy the | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
opportunity. It is a chance for us to park our league form behind us | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
for a couple of weeks and try and build some momentum in what is a | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
fantastic tournament. It is too early to panic though and if | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
Gloucester win tomorrow then a lot of that pressure will be relieved. | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
So after a disappointing start to the season what needs to change for | :20:24. | :20:32. | |
Gloucester? Well plenty already has. Gloucester have made six changes to | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
the team which lost at home to Exeter in the Premiership last week. | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
The main problem is that the forwards are being out—muscled. The | :20:39. | :20:42. | |
forwards decide who wins a match — the backs by how many! But | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
Worcester's start has been even worse. They've lost all five games | :20:45. | :20:48. | |
in the Premiership. Tomorrow they're away to French side Oyonnax in the | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
Jura mountains in France. It's in the European Challenge Cup. | :20:52. | :20:54. | |
Worcester really could with a good result. Now, a week on Sunday 20,000 | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
runners will flood the streets of Birmingham for the Great Midlands | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
Run. It's a challenge for everyone. But if your specialism was sprinting | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
— then 13.1 miles is a very long way. And I've been to see two former | :21:05. | :21:07. | |
professional—sportsmen who're stepping well outside their comfort | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
zones. They've done this more times than they care to remember. Getting | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
ready for a training session was a way of life for former Villa winger | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
Mark Walters and sprinter Phil Taylor. They can do stretching | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
exercises in their sleep. But this time it's different. Running a half | :21:24. | :21:36. | |
marathon is a new challenge. The body can put up with most things, | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
but it is the mind. Now I have got that sorted and I'm prepared to put | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
my body through it now. The biggest distance I raced over was 400 | :21:45. | :21:52. | |
metres. So o' to —— to do over ten miles will be a big challenge. So | :21:52. | :21:59. | |
they've been poundings the parks and streets of the Midlands getting | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
ready for the big race. It's a far cry from Walters Villa days. He'll | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
admit himself that his former managers won't believe he's to | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
tackle a half marathon. Taylor was a former runner and won gold at the | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
European indoor championships in Birmingham in the 4 by 400 metres. | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
Injury forced him to retire at 25 — now aged 28 he's got a new | :22:19. | :22:28. | |
challenge. When you leave a sport through injury, you often try and | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
find something to replace it with. It is weird, but you enjoy the pain | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
of it. I considered a number of sports, but I thought technically | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
I'm OK at running. Both are running for charity. Taylor for the RSPB — | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
Walters to fight the blood disorder sickle cell anemia. They might be | :22:46. | :22:48. | |
former professional sportsmen but a week on Sunday they'll be just two | :22:49. | :22:52. | |
faces among 20,000 runners giving it their all. Good luck to all these | :22:52. | :23:00. | |
runners. Mark Walters said he wants to get inside two hours 15 and Phil | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
wants to do it in an hour and a half and that is fast. That is the | :23:06. | :23:13. | |
competitive spirit. Two Birmingham choirs have been going head to head | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
for the title of the Songs of Praise gospel choir of the year. We'll find | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
out on Sunday whether the Birmingham Gospel Choir or the Town Hall Gospel | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
Choir took the honours after both made it through to the final. But as | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
Matt Sandoz has been finding out — it's been a labour of love for both | :23:28. | :23:38. | |
choirmasters taking part. Hello. The reassuring voice of nurse Maxine | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
Brooks. After caring for patients, she takes up the role of choir | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
master in preparation for the Songs of Praise gospel final. | :23:49. | :24:03. | |
It has been fantastic. Somebody said there was a competition and they | :24:03. | :24:11. | |
said you should enter. I said yes. So we did a lot of rehearsals, | :24:11. | :24:18. | |
recorded it and sent it off and just prayed hard! Then we got the woord | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
that we —— woord that we were one of the finalist and we were so pleased. | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
Over a million people watched two Birmingham choirs beat off | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
competition from all over the country to reach Sunday's final. The | :24:32. | :24:38. | |
battle will see Maxine's community choir go head—to—head with the town | :24:38. | :24:47. | |
hall gospel choir, led by Colin Anderson. Absolutely amazing. Really | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
it is. Just never dreamt that we could get anywhere close to this. So | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
yes, we are thrilled. Who will win? We will have to wait and see. One | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
thing for certain is the city has two choirs to be proud of. And you | :25:02. | :25:12. | |
can find out which choir won, on Songs of Praise this Sunday at a | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
quarter past four here on BBC1. Still in a dilemma about whether to | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
turn the heating on? Here's Rebecca Wood with the forecast. You may need | :25:20. | :25:28. | |
to turn it on this weekend to dry off your rain coat. We have had | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
plenty of rain today and we have still more, particularly in eastern | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
parts. Those north—easterly wind haven't gone anywhere and they're | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
making things feel cooler and temperatures are below average. It | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
has been a cloudy day today. There have been some spits and spots of | :25:48. | :25:51. | |
rain and a few breaks in the cloud, but they have been very few and far | :25:52. | :25:56. | |
between. That cloud isn't going anywhere for the next few hours. A | :25:56. | :26:00. | |
dry start to the night fo most of us. The further east you are, you | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
are more likely to see some rain. That cloud is going to help, because | :26:05. | :26:12. | |
temperatures will manage to stick into double fishings for —— figures | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
for most of us. That rain is continuing in eastern parts. So a | :26:17. | :26:22. | |
damp start in the east tomorrow. But still some uncertainty as to how far | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
this band of rain will move across the west. It could spread across | :26:26. | :26:31. | |
most places. Around that there will be some breaks in it that will allow | :26:31. | :26:37. | |
for some brightness. Temperatures up to 13 Celsius. But those winds | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
taking the edge off them. Then another wet night to come tomorrow. | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
The rain will start to move northwards, with some heavy rain | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
over Staffordshire and Shropshire. And then some mist and fog patches | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
developing further south. Over night temperatures around nine Celsius. | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
But the rain is not going anywhere. By Sunday we still have low pressure | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
come Dom —— dominating and this weather front making things rather | :27:03. | :27:07. | |
wet for Sunday. It is going to be another day with temperatures up | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
into double figures for most of us. But a wet affair and as we move | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
through to the start of the new week t it is getting more settle. — | :27:14. | :27:21. | |
settled. Tonight's headlines from the BBC Royal Mail shares rise by a | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
third on the first day of trading, critics say the taxpayer has been | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
shortchanged — but the prime ministers insists the sale has been | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
a success. Brutal, depraved and disgusting — a judge jails two 17 | :27:32. | :27:35. | |
year olds for subjecting another teenager to sexual torture and | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
humiliation. That was the Midlands Today. I'll be back at ten o'clock | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
with your next news. Have a great evening. Goodbye. | :27:42. | :27:46. |