24/07/2014 Midlands Today

Good evening. in Glasgow.

A Staffordshire police officer has been suspended

after a video was posted online which appeared to show him

It was apparently taken during a night out in Hanley.

Both the force and the Independent Police Complaints

Commission are now investigating while the woman involved has told

This is the centre of Hanley, filmed on a smart phone, in

Nikki Wright is the woman the officer is referring to.

She says the incident unfolded as she was trying to help

All of the sudden, they grabbed my right arm. I actually had a bump on

my arm where they grabbed me. As I stopped myself from getting closer,

his hand comes up and slaps me. He pulls me to the floor. That's when I

shout, idea you, and he lets me go. `` I dear.

This is Trinity Street, the area where the video was filmed.

Staffordshire Police have begun an investigation.

We take complaints about the conduct of our officers very seriously. I

have seen the footage and it now forms part of a robust investigation

into a complaint from a member of the public about an officer's

behaviour. CCTV from around this area will

form part of that investigation. Events and also captured by Cameron

is that police carry. The commission are placing importance on

transparency. We need an answer on this as soon as possible, it can

strike on. I need to make sure that police officers act professionally

even in difficult circumstances. Nikki Wright says she's sorry

for swearing during the incident but wants an apology from

the officer who's been suspended. The investigation is expected to

be complete within a few weeks. Whatever its outcome,

this footage illustrates how quickly images can be shared via social

media and how footage can have The former MEP Nikki Sinclaire has

been charged with misconduct in The 45`year`old is due in court in

September to face claims that she made false statements for travel

expenses and then transferred the The allegations date back to

between 2009 and 2010 when Ms Sinclaire was a member of

the European Parliament for UKIP. In a statement today she says she

'strongly' refutes the charges. A man arrested on suspicion

of the double murder of a Solihull couple has been sectioned under

the mental health act. The 23`year`old was arrested

after the bodies of Pin and Quoi Chang were found at their home on

Hermitage Road on the 7th of July. He will now be assessed

by mental health professionals. Two children who had been missing

from their home in Birmingham since midday have been found safe

and well. Four`year`old Adi Sava and

Saina Sava, who's 11, More than 800 people gathered to pay

tribute today to the West Midlands first Police and

Crime Commissioner Bob Jones, A celebration of his life was held

in his home city of Wolverhampton, which he'd served as a councillor

for more than 30 years. The numbers

grew and grew hundreds turning out to pay public tribute to a man who

gave his life to public service. Police officers provide a guard of

honour for his coffin, the mourners There were tears

but there was gratitude too from This was a man of outstanding

ability, a fine mind and a man with a mission. Bob was exceptionally

intelligent and has knowledge of policing was second to none. He was

assertive. He had a quiet confidence but never adopted in aid of

superiority. He carried quietly, the significant responsibilities.

After 30 years as a councillor, in 2012 Bob Jones became the

West Midlands first Police and Crime Commissioner, striking up

a close working relationship with the chief constable who noticed

a change in the commissioner's unique dress sense.

At the family's request, the abiding colour was read, a nod to his

socialist principles, but the colour of vibrancy and warmth. He knew my

name and I was a needle in a haystack for them. He was a lovely

person. He was such a hard`working, loyal person. He will be true loss

to the community. Bob Jones loved his country,

the countryside, castles, real ale, steam railways and above all

his family but he was a man who devoted himself to others and for

that he earned universal respect. A Worcestershire factory has been

brought back into use, thanks to an It's because there's

a nationwide shortage of bricks, resulting in delays on some projects

until supply can meet demand. Stanbrook Abbey near Worcester is

undergoing major refurbishment. On site you will see carpenters,

electricians and plasterers. What you won't see

at the moment are bricklayers Normally you would expect bricks to

be on a three or four`week delivery. On this project it is

about a 14`week delivery period. So we have effectively

a ten`week daily. Here at least, there's a lot

of other work to do well they wait For others it is

causing real problems. We have a project not far

from here that lost six weeks on an order of 360,000 bricks that

were suddenly stopped because production ran out and we

had to source alternative bricks. The fact that the demand

for bricks is outstripping supply is actually a good sign for the

construction industry as a whole. And you don't have to look much

further than this brickworks This place was mothballed

in 2008 when the industry crashed Now it is being

brought back to life. More demand means the

construction industry is building Vena Burger, which owns the site,

also runs this brickworks They are now looking to recruit 36

full`time workers at the Worcestershire plant

including apprentices. This year we'll probably build

something of the order You have to compare that to

2012 when it was as low as 120. The Government quite rightly

suggested we should be building a minimum of 200,000 going forward,

so it is that not just today?s demand, it is

the demand going forward that gives The brick shortage is expected to

level out but the industry is A new technique to tackle

fly`tipping is being tried out Instead of clearing away rubbish,

Telford and Wrekin Council is treating dumped waste as a crime

scene, putting tape up around the They're trying to raise awareness of

fly`tipping as a criminal offence. Twycross Zoo has been showing

off its two new leopard cubs. The Amoor leopards are some

of the rarest big cats in the world, with fewer than 50 now living

in the wild. They're on the verge

of extinction in their native Russia, but it's hoped

that this pair, being raised on the Warwickshire`Leicestershire border

will play an important part in Our next news will be in

at Breakfast just before 6:30am I'll leave you with the weather

from Rebecca. It is a calm and quiet night out

there at the moment. By the time we wake up tomorrow there will be

plenty of sunshine and it is going to be a lovely dry day. At the

moment, there are clear spells. We're getting a bit of mist and fog

forming over the North Midlands. For the risk of us, it is a calm and

quiet night but sticky, with temperatures between 15 and 17

Celsius. With clear spells, we wake up to glorious sunshine tomorrow

morning. It means our temperatures are going to be higher tomorrow

morning with high UV levels. Getting up to 20 Celsius with the moderate

easterly breeze. By Friday, we have some good spells of sunshine

continuing but we are starting to see a change of wind direction which

will mean that things are a little cooler. More in the national

forecast. of some showers and at Wilton cooler

from the north. The national picture comes from Philip Avery.

Unusually, I can say good morning. Wednesday has been noticeable for a

number of reasons. From a meteorological point of view, it was

the warmest day of the year for Wales and Northern Ireland. Nothing

like it across the East of Scotland, where the temperature was locked

firmly into the mid-teens thanks to the presence of the low cloud and

fog. It is there again as it has been, making inroads through the

Clyde Valley is, to the Tyne Valley and areas east of the Pennines.

Another very close night, 17, 18 or 19, something of that order. It will

take some time on