09/01/2017 Midlands Today

The headlines tonight: news teams where you are.

Controversy after a man disrupts Morris dancers with painted faces,

Even in the 21st-century, can't we all dance together?

Can't we all get on together and respect everybody's traditions?

An ancient tradition that needs explaining,

An inquest finds a 10-year-old boy from Hereford hung

200 rare posters from the Golden Age of cinema -

up for auction right here in the Midlands.

So close, and yet so far - Non-league Stourbridge head out

of the FA-Cup after defeat to Wycombe Wanderers

Proud of the way the boys played, and, as you have seen,

And it's a week of two halves - mild to begin with but cold

and windy from midweek onwards, bringing the chance of some snow,

I'll have full details in the forecast later.

A group of Morris dancers were forced to abandon a performance

in the centre of Birmingham this weekend after being

Several of the troop from Worcestershire,

had blackened their faces, in line with some Morris dancing traditions.

But a number of onlookers took exception and disrupted the dance.

One posted a video on the internet, but the Morris dancers say

the practise dates back centuries, and is not linked to race.

It was supposed to be thoroughly Haydn Leiva and dust dose Tesche

traditional Morris dance to entertain shoppers and celebrate the

start of the agricultural year. Is this not racist?

No, it's not. That was the idea, anyway. But at

the Birmingham Bullring, a young, dark skinned man interrupted the

group. Some of them had blackened their faces. He angrily and

repeatedly called them racist. This is a form of racism.

According to one account, hats were not from heads, and abuse was

Harold. Do not think you will not hurt

someone's feelings! The dancers received such abuse,

they decided to abandon their performance. I have spoken to the

treasurer of the group, they are still deciding whether to comment

publicly. I'm told one of the members were so upset by the

experience coming he considered reporting it to the police. At the

Bullring today, it is not hard to find others who agreed with the

racism claim. Never seen a Morris dancers were

black face before. And why now? I would think, if ice other now, why

now? That is racist. It's nonsense. They're just having

fun. It's our tradition. If people

bothered to look into why they've got their faces blacked up, it's

nothing to do with race. We're model control society, we don't do that.

It's not something that should have have done, and I don't know who gave

them license to do that in a cosmopolitan city like Birmingham.

Shropshire-based Mike Rust has been a Morris dancer for nearly 30 years.

He says the practice of backing up data on the 17th century, when they

dance was banned, and the dancers sought to hide their identities.

It come from the rural parts of the Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire

and a bit of Worcester. Multicultural Birmingham seems to be

in a little dome of itself, and what happens there is separate what

happens out here. We have been unable to contact the

young man who confronted the dancers. The police say they are

aware of the incident and are reviewing information research, but

have not started a formal investigation.

The Health Secretary says he's more concerned

about the Worcestershire Royal, than any other hospital

Jeremy Hunt's comments come after the deaths of two patients,

who were waiting in corridors in A and another who was found dead

Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon,

the Health Secretary said the problem of patients waiting

on trolleys was mainly down to two West Midlands hospitals.

The most recent statistics show that nearly three quarters of trolley

In Worcestershire in particular, there have been a number

of unacceptably long trolley waits, and in the media, two reported

We're also aware of ongoing problems in north Midlands,

with extremely high numbers of 12-hour trolley waits.

In response, the Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth,

asked Mr Hunt if the Government would take action over the deaths.

One of the most upsetting reports to come out of hospitals last week

was the death of two patients at Worcestershire Royal who had

Can I ask the Secretary of State if he will commit to personally lead

Well, in our Westminster studio is the MP for Redditch,

Karen Lumley, who earlier this afternoon held an urgent meeting

with the Health Secretary to talk about the problems

at the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

First of all, where you happy with what Mr Hunt had to say?

We talked about the situation that has been ongoing in both the

Worcester royal and Alexandra Hospital over the last few weeks.

And what the Health Secretary could do to alleviate some of those

problems. More importantly, what he could do to make sure this doesn't

happen again. I'm very keen that we put a bit in the expanded capacity

at both hospitals. I want him to look at that bid very seriously. I

was in that debate this afternoon, and I specifically asked him about

that. He said he would lick sympathetically on that bid.

With the idea of expansion in mind at the moment is, the Alex in

Redditch is looking at having its A downgraded, is this not an

opportunity to say to the Health Secretary, we need that A

apartment? We have a department...

It's being downgraded? 85 % of people can go to that A I

was there talking to the staff, making sure they were OK. We owe

those staff a great deal of our gratitude. In that debate this

afternoon, there was over 100 members of Parliament, across the

country, who have stories to tell that -

not as bad as ours - but tale of difficult times ahead.

Staffer under very huge pressure, did he give you any assurances about

additional staff, support, more funding?

There were assurances that they are putting additional support in now.

They are also opening another ward to alleviate some of these problems.

As I said to you, in the short term, that is what is needed. In the

longer term, we need to make sure that this doesn't happen again next

year, and that we have these plans in place that make sure our

hospitals are equipped to deliver what we should be delivering for our

residents. I don't want to have to be looking at that again. My

condolences go out to those families today who have lost relatives.

Thank you very much. In a statement, the trust told us as they are

currently holding internal reviews into all three of those deaths, and

how they are completed, they cannot comment borough. They say they are

working hard to reduce the times that patients are waiting on

trolleys, but they accept that some are waiting longer than the like,

and they apologise for that. A coroner has recorded

a verdict of accidental death after a 10-year-old boy

from Hereford was found hanged It had been suggested that

Alfie Hyett had been taking part But the police told today's

inquest they could find no Alfie Hyett, described

by his teacher at today's inquest as a very

happy ten-year-old. Yet, last March his mother Louise

found him hanged by a school scarf on his

bedroom door handle. He could not be revived

and was pronounced dead at hospital. This is Alfie's room,

as you can tell, very, very tidy. In the summer, Alfie's mum

Louise told Midlands Today she was convinced her son had been

taking part in a web craze, a so-called choking game -

starving the brain of oxygen cause Detective Sergeant Mark

Jinks from West Mercia Police told the inquest that he had

investigated suggestions that Alfie might have been taking part in some

sort of choking game when he died. The youngster's Xbox and laptop

were examined but there was no evidence to suggest he had been

researching the game. Several classmates were

also interviewed but there was no suggestion

that the choking game had been a talking point before

Alfie's death. Alfie's family did not

want to talk to camera convinced her son

was playing a game. The coroner said he was satisfied

Alfie had tied the scarf around his neck but not satisfied

he intended to take his life. Recording of verdict of accidental

death, he said he believed this was an accident of childish

curiosity or experimentation. Two people died in a burning car

after a crash that shut part of the M6 in Warwickshire

in the early hours of this morning. Their vehicle hit a barrier

on the motorway near Corley Services A man and a woman were

confirmed dead at the scene. The road was closed for several

hours causing lengthy hold-ups on many surrounding roads

during the morning rush hour. Rail passengers in Gloucestershire

faced long delays today after a boulder fell onto a railway

line during a landslip. The mass of rock tumbled

onto the line near Chalford. Engineers have spent the day

breaking it up into smaller pieces, but Network Rail says the line may

not reopen before the morning. This is an area of known

disturbance, and we have had some minor falls from time to time,

which is why netting is there, to help the cutting

wall stay in place. It was not designed

to cope with anything of the size that we saw fall

onto the track today. So that's one of the questions

were going to have to ask ourselves about the geological knowledge

we have that particular cutting - do we urgently need to update that

and put some resilient The Reverend Georgina Byrne,

a Canon at Worcester Cathedral, has been appointed to serve

as a chaplain to the Queen. She'll become one of just 34 members

of the clergy to take up Chaplains to the Queen preach

occasionally in the Chapel Royal A planned trial using a former

London Underground train, to run between Nuneaton

and Coventry, has been scrapped. It follows a fire on board

the Vivarail two weeks ago. The train was to have

stopped at the Ricoh Arena Our transport correspondent

Peter Plisner is at Coventry Peter, how much of blow

is this decision? The biggest blow is for passengers,

because this train was due to relieve overcrowding on that line.

This is the trainer currently runs on it, pretty noisy as well. There

is a national shortage in the UK of diesel trains at the moment. It's a

blow to Vivarail, the Warwickshire-based company. Their

test train caught fire on December 30. They had been due to start a

trial in February. A partnership of councils, including the West

Midlands Combined Authority and London Midland have effectively

pulled the plug. With me from London Midland is Francis Thomas, why have

they made that decision? Vivarail tell as their programme

goes back three months, that means we do not have time to run the

programme before the change of franchise in the summer.

Regrettably, we have had to stop the programme now.

How much difference with the strains have made?

There is a national shortage of diesel trains. Nobody else is

building them. We are seeing demand growing all the time for trains in

the West Midlands. On this line, we only have one carriage per hour on a

route that has seen two new stations open in the last 18 months.

My kind you find any other diesel trains?

Every train company in the country is playing the same game, chasing

those diesel trains as they become available. We're already looking for

one to run from here to Leamington, there is big demand for diesel

trains, and affords a no-one is making them. So they class 230 could

be the solution in the future. Vivarail told us night they are

investigating the cause of the fire, but their London Underground trains

are still being converted. Thanks for joining us

on Midlands Today, this Controversy after a troop of Morris

dancers with painted faces Your detailed weather

forecast to come shortly. Ashley Giles back at Edgbaston,

but this time it's not Don't get mad, get even -

The mystery woman from Warwick who paid for posters to get back

at her cheating partner. A rare collection of more

than 200 classic Hollywood film posters is being auctioned

in the the Midlands this week. The collection, which is expected

to raise thousands of pounds, was amassed by a man from Dudley

when he worked in RAF Cinema. The 1950s and 60s were

a golden age in cinema. Promotional posters

capturing the classics. Now, more than 200 collected

by Dudley man Brian O'Connor Brian was in the RAF,

and worked in their cinemas, saving each poster from the skip

and consolidating a shildhood Saturday morning

pictures, loved them. I have his pass from

when he was small. And his love continued

right until he died. The auction's being held

in Dudley on Friday, and they could fetch up to tens

of thousands with this War Of The World poster thought

to be the most valuable. We saw one sell in America, a film

poster for The War Of The Worlds, This particular film

poster, this British one, Not only are there posters

about the classics, but also some of the B-movies,

like here The Blob, this film was about a huge lump of slime

they kept growing and engulfing neighbourhoods

somewhere in the states. In fact, you could say

it was so bad it was good. And, to be honest, if I think

about it too much, I want to cry. Brian's family now live in Kent,

but they're keeping his four most favoured posters,

along with hundreds of photos It's time for the sport, and Dan is

here. It was a case of close but not quite. Rich?

Yes, if only Tom Tonks' late strike hadn't bounced off the crossbar,

then Stourbridge could have been looking forward to a replay,

and a place in tonight's fourth round draw.

Instead, they bowed out of the FA Cup with their heads held high.

More than 2000 fans made the trip from the Black Country,

and Ian Winter travelled with the Stourbridge team to Wycombe.

They've never made a journey like this since the club

They were determined to enjoy every minute.

Overnight stay in a four-star hotel, a luxury coach, and a moment

of quiet reflection on their way to the biggest game of their lives.

Clearly, this Stourbridge lads weren't suffering

We know it's going to be very tough, we know it'll be one of the shocks

But we have prepared as well as we can.

As I say, if we get beat by a better side on the day, so be it.

Just before we get there, I want to wish all the lads good luck!

It's 40 years now since a team from the Northern Premier League

last reached the fourth round of the FA Cup,

so now is the moment for Stourbridge to make FA Cup history.

And waiting for them outside the Wycombe ground,

Lucky hats, silly suits, and optimistic betting slips.

More than 2000 had made the trip from the Black Country.

# We are Stourbridge, we are Stourbridge!#

Stourbridge fell behind soon after the break,

Dan Scarr, man of the match, levelled the score at 1-1,

It might even had been a victory, if only Tom Tonks' effort had

But seven minutes from time, the unmistakable figure of Akinfenwa

popped in the winner to break Stourbridge hearts.

I am so disappointed that it's ended in the way it has.

But as I said, I'm proud of the way the boys played.

And as you have seen, the support today was breathtaking.

Very fine margins in football, and unfortunately, we've lost

Well done, Gary, you've done the Black Country proud.

It's certainly been an FA Cup journey the Glass Boys

Such a shame for a stammer rage. But not a great weekend for any of our

teams? A great result for will steam from the championship, they beat

Stoke City 2-0. The only other team from her area still involved in the

FA Cup is Birmingham city, they drew 1-1, Lukas Jutkiewicz with the

equaliser. We have another cup draw taking

place today? The women's FA Cup draw took place

at Perry Barr, two pupils did the draw, Sana Kazi and Leya Hussain.

Aston Villa, commentary are all at home in round three.

In rugby, Wasps at the top, but oh, Wester!

Almost 28,000 people at the Ricoh Arena, they are now three points

clear at the top of the Premiership. On Saturday, Gloucester beat

Worcester, they scored seven tries, there are now eight, Worcester are

bottom but one. Cricket and Ashley Giles

says his new role at Warwickshire means he's taking a step back

from frontline coaching. Giles has won the County

Championship as both But he says that Jim Troughton will

be in charge of the first team. Ashley Giles has spent almost all

of his working life at Edgbaston, but he stressed this time

he is in a new role, The Academy, sports

science, recruitment. It's a lot of areas that

I have really not had It keeps me more in a suit than

a tracksuit for most of the year. A very different role,

but one I'm looking forward to. The team were back in training today

for the first time since Christmas, and now the direct

responsibility of Jim Troughton, It's going to be an organic process

in the first couple of weeks, we need to figure out whose

responsibilities are where. But I'm focusing on the cricket,

making sure I get in that indoor school and get the guys as prepared

as possible for our For Giles, this

is a real homecoming. He spent 14 seasons as a first-class

cricketer at Warwickshire, He was lured away by England before

a two-year spell at Lancashire, and the 43-year-old says a big

plus about the new job will be living at home

with his family in Worcestershire. That was a crucial

part of the decision. I was spending too many

days in a hotel room. It's an important time

in my children's development, none of us are getting any younger,

and before I know it, But he's been hired

to bring success. The Bears last won the County

Championship in 2012, with Giles as coach

and Troughton as captain. The pair are now reunited,

and they'll be hoping for Feels a long way away from sunshine

and champagne today. Certainly does at the moment!

If you live in Warwickshire then you may have spotted some of these

They were apparently paid for by a woman

revenge against her cheating partner "Graham".

Well, mystery continues to surround the identity of the couple,

with some claiming it could be a publicity stunt.

It was a simple but powerful sign - is scorned woman trying to publicly

shame her ex-by advertising his alleged in fidelity on lamp posts.

Around 50 of the signs appeared in Warwick, and have the town talking.

I think she feels humiliated by Graham, so she has he related him. I

don't think it's revenge. It's very boldly.

Do you think it is my it mean? No.

Yes. She's properly hanging him out to

dry. If he has been paying away from

home, he has only himself to blame. I think Linda should come in and

have a chat and a copy about Graham! With the images going viral on

social media, the poster company are refusing to comments, but had told

friends that Linda is a genuine customer, and this is not a PR

stunt. But hasn't it gone too far? Just be very careful what you say, I

don't think Linda made for it to be shared in America and be on the BBC,

but it's out there now for everyone to see. It's and anti-love story,

but it is so intriguing, who is she, why has he done this? Can we help

out? I think it's great. Through this entries, Warwick Castle

has seen a few acts of revenge, and this is nothing new to this town. On

the 14th century, prisoners will be held in a cell where sewage would be

poured upon them, and they would be left to die. Today, there's no sign

of grain here. The identities of both Graham and Linda remain a

mystery, although this bar owner claims he knows Linda's true

identity, and has even offered her a bottle of champagne.

All I know is who Linda is, I am not quick to say any more. If she wants

to lay low, I'm not going to change that.

There could be a final twist in this sad love story, flyposting is

illegal, and guilty parties could be fined.

Oh, Graham! There are rumours of snow, search Farley is here to give

us the forecast. Our cameraman, Joe, over there has confirmed some big

fat flakes of snow at Edgbaston earlier today. There could be more

substantial snow later this week, but lets concentrate on the

miserable conditions today. But this picture looks quite nice. We should

title this, And Then The Heavens Opened. This was the reality of this

situation once the rain got going, it was miserable, very wet. Just

three hours ago, this was the situation across Staffordshire,

things drying up with some breaks in the cloud. This is how the rest of

the week is shaping up. At the moment, it has been wet and cloudy,

by the time we get to midweek, the colder hair and windier conditions

start to move in. Those will be with us right until the end of the week.

At this stage, for the Midlands, just wintry showers, nothing to

substantial. This is what is bringing in the colder air, and

northwesterly breeze from the Arctic, that is what's going to

cover the entire country. That is going to bring in some substantial

snow to parts of the north of the country, Wales as well, and also the

East Midlands. That's weather warnings are. For us, it looks like

we have no snow at all for most areas, certainly at lower levels.

Actor this evening, write out there as a result of the rain earlier.

That is clearing to the southeast, and we're left with a few showery at

pix of rain, some drizzle and rain towards the north and north west. A

lot of that give Mr averages above freezing, Aranda four Celsius.

Tomorrow will be cloudy to begin with. Miles of tomorrow.

Mild! That was the Panorama investigates

the deadly terrorist attack and should British tourists

have been warned about the risks? but it's not always

the right thing for one person. we've run at almost

completely 100% capacity. We've got lots of patients

now competing. There's no beds. I do the right thing

all the time in this job, but it's not always

the right thing for one person. I do the right thing

for the hospital. Sometimes I stop

things happening, yeah.