03/03/2017 Midlands Today

The blind man and his guide dog who can't get a taxi.

It stresses me out just to know that because I have got a disability I am

being treated differently, and I cannot just book a taxi

Taxis and minicabs are obliged to take guide dogs unless the driver

Is she Worcestershire's most wanted woman after seeing a dropped wallet

It is not her wallet, it is not her property.

We gauge reaction after television's behind-the-scenes look

at dating and marriage in the Muslim community.

The gloves are off for Birmingham's first female professional boxer.

And will the weather be a knockout this weekend?

Or perhaps it'll be better for staying in an enjoying some jazz?

I'll let you know a little later in the programme.

A blind man from Birmingham says taxis operated by the online firm

Uber have repeatedly refused to pick him up because he

Saleh Ahmed, from Balsall Heath, claims it's happened 14 times

It's illegal for taxis drivers to discriminate

against guide dog owners unless they have

Tonight, Uber says it's barred two drivers while they investigate.

Blind since birth, Saleh Ahmed relies on his guide dog Johnny.

Without him, his 30-mile journey to work would be so much harder.

Sal uses the taxi hailing app Uber to travel to and from his home

in Balsall Heath and New Street Station.

On Monday, though, four rides were cancelled because drivers

I asked him if he had a medical certificate.

He instantly cancelled the ride, and I was charged the ?3.50

Taxis and minicabs are obliged to take guide dogs,

unless the driver has a medical reason not to.

Sal says it's happened 14 times with Uber rides

Like, it stresses me out just to know that,

because I have a disability, I have been treated differently.

And I cannot book a taxi like everyone else does.

Uber said it was totally unacceptable and told us this.

Like Saleh, the drivers who refused him were Muslim,

and he believes it betrays a cultural dislike of dogs.

Mohammed is an ambassador for Guide Dogs for the Blind,

and takes his dog, Solo, to schools to introduce

In Islam, if a dog's saliva gets on your clothes,

But his local mosque has built Solo a kennel.

Mohammed has taken cab companies to court for refusing him a ride.

One driver was fined ?350 and sent on a disability

I do not think the drivers are being punished enough.

I think there need to be more severe consequences.

And one of the reasons for this is it is under-reported.

Saleh says he and John may have to consider alternative

Giles Latcham, BBC Midlands Today, Birmingham.

Uber aren't the only offenders, and it's not just

Today in Wolverhampton, private hire driver Samim Yakubi, who works

for Wednesfield Radio Cars, was fined by magistrates

and could now lose his licence for discriminating

against 71-year-old Rita Nicholls and her guide dog Charlie,

leaving them stranded in the city centre.

Joining us now is Chris Neville, head of licensing for

It is a criminal offence under the equalities act if a try very -- Taxi

refuses to take a passenger who is disabled with an assistance dog, and

if the reason for refusal is because they have a dog and the only

exemption is if they have a certificate from the licensing

authority to say they do not have to carry a dog because of medical

reasons such as an allergy. You've just heard Mohammed say taxi

drivers who say no to guide dogs We absolutely agree. We investigate

every complaint we receive of this nature and those drivers where we

take them to court and they are convicted will normally go before

the licensing committee, in this case, Birmingham, and those drivers

have their licenses removed in many cases so they cannot work as a taxi

driver again. They are risking their livelihoods by refusing.

How often does it happen? In the last year, we have done that

on three occasions, three convictions. In the last month, we

removed the license from one particular private hire drivers who

did this. It is really heartless. They are

treating disabled people differently and the equalities act is that

disabled people should not be treated differently. Guide dogs are

trained to travel and sit in the foot well, they are not vicious

animals. There is no reason to treat them this way.

And if people have a problem, they can contact you direct?

If this happens to anyone, they should contact their local

authority, their licensing department, and the council, and

they will investigate those complaints.

Thank you. She could be described as

Worcestershire's most wanted woman. She's a motorist in her fifties,

described as short and well-rounded, who's committed a shocking

and opportunistic crime. She spotted a wallet

in the road and kept it, The man who'd dropped it just

moments before says the loss nearly He's so angry at the theft,

he's released CCTV of the woman's crime in the hope someone

will recognise her. He is putting the can

in the back of the car now. CCTV of the moment he dropped his

wallet outside a hire Within a few moments,

a woman in a Toyota Corolla has stopped, got out,

and picked it up. I don't think she even gets a chance

to put the seat belt on. She drives off still

with her hazards on. I think she needs to come clean

and confess and hand it in. CCTV from inside the shop shows

the theft from a different angle. Owner Matt Dormer saw the woman pick

something up but didn't realise it was Clive's

wallet until afterwards. She has fair hair,

about five feet tall. Frustratingly for Clive,

he can't make out the woman's number So far the police investigation

has come to nothing People have got no

morals these days. I thought she would

have handed it in. If I found a wallet,

I would hand it in. At least make some effort

to find the owner. Surely we all of us

have a moral tipping point? Some might be quite

happy about pocketing If I had the chance

to take it, I would. Or one of these, a Staffordshire

woman last week ended up You are asking a moral

stance of where it was, where you found it,

where to return it. A wallet is different,

it has details in there. Clive set up his music business

with his retirement money. He says says the loss of the ?1,600

could put him under. He is now offering a ?200 reward

for anyone who helps him Sarah Bishop, BBC Midlands

Today, in Tardebigbe. Close to a million people have

picked up on the story across the BBC's web and social

media pages, and it's Lyndsay Millington pointed

to the story earlier this week about a young woman from Stoke

who was prosecuted and fined for pocketing a ?20 note

she found on a shop floor. Thanks to all of you

who got in touch. A man's died following a house fire

in Malvern last night. Emergency services were called

to the property on Belmont Road A man was rescued from the house

but died a short time later Two other men were treated

at the scene for minor injuries. A man's appeared in court

charged with murder, after a pensioner died

following an assault 37-year-old Carl Pinder is accused

of killing 68-year-old Patrick Redmond who died in hospital

after an alleged altercation at Five newborn puppies have been

found abandoned in a car They were discovered in a box

in Baker Street with their eyes shut A vet who examined the pups

said they'd been exposed The world of Muslim marriage

and dating was the focus of a TV documentary which went out

on Channel 4 last night. The three-part series,

Extremely British Muslims, was filmed in Birmingham,

and last night's episode was all about how young people

balance looking for love Elizabeth Glinka has been to meet

some of those involved, I don't need anyone telling me

what I should be doing. You notice how many people

are looking on the train? They think you look more likely

to blow yourself up than me. Filmed over a year,

Extremely British Muslims takes an in-depth and sometimes irreverent

look at what is means to be both Last night's episode

was all about love, and featured Bella, who's 24, was just

beginning her search for a husband. You go date someone,

you meet someone. But when you sign up

with the mosque's marriage bureau, In our Islam, marriage

is first, romance is after. At home today, the sisters

were gauging reaction to the show. Our friends and family

are really positive. They were saying they were happy our

personalities came through. It is about the choices,

we consciously chose to go on there and show our side

of our story. It is my little story

I am showing you. We all know documentaries

about Birmingham haven't always So we've come to Birmingham Central

Mosque for Friday prayers to see what people thought

of the programme. If you're trying to portray

all of the Muslims in Birmingham, Really funny seeing

people's stories. Another character in last night's

programme was Ash who was struggling with one of the show's main themes,

reconciling family and religion Throughout this whole process,

I'm kind of figuring myself out. We caught up with him

after prayers today. I haven't heard anything negative

yet which is worrying really. I think something is

coming in the pipeline. Essentially, it is an amazing

journey I went through. A journey of discovery I am

still going through now. And while the reception to the show

has been largely positive, both Ash and Bella are still

looking for love. Hopefully if something positive

comes out of it and I get the woman of my dreams,

that would be fantastic, you know. Extremely British Muslims is back

next Thursday at ten o'clock. Elizabeth Glinka, BBC

Midlands Today, Birmingham. And we're joined now

from our London studio by series A previous Channel Four programme

Benefits Street left a nasty taste I think so, I think we have tried to

go beyond these sometimes negative news headlines around Muslims, and

to go into a community and show day-to-day lives of ordinary

Muslims. With that in mind, how hard

was it to gain access Well, we had the backing of

Birmingham Central Mosque, so that was brilliant, that helped us a lot.

But it was difficult because people are understandably wary of the

media, media portrayal of Muslims has not been brilliant.

Understandably, people were hesitant but I think luckily there were

people like Bella who were brave enough, could see the bigger picture

which is that it is important the people to see what ordinary Muslims

zest lives are like. All those taking part seemed

very honest and open. We were making a documentary series

for a year, B got to know people. We listened to people and heard their

stories and followed their stories. So I think that is how it was.

There've been comments on social media claiming the show wasn't

representative of the broader Muslim community, rather Pakistani

We had to make the series somewhere so we chose one of the biggest

mosques in the country. And it does serve a very large

Pakistani community so that is where we had, those were the people we

were coming into contact with. Further in the series, we have

someone of Yemeni descent, there are other types of Muslims.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.

A new service for people suffering from the blood disorder sickle cell

anaemia has been launched at Birmingham's City Hospital.

It includes a new Apheresis blood transfusion machine

which means more than a dozen patients will no longer have

to travel to London every month for treatment.

You just want to be in your own environment so if anything does

so if anything does happen, or you have to get admitted

afterwards, you can call your mum, can you pick me up from here,

Whereas if you are in a different city, it is a different ball game.

We want their sickle cell disease to be the smallest

as possible, and the hospital visits to be as infrequent as we can

So they can go out have jobs, families, careers, the same dreams,

Dan Pallett's here with tonight's sport.

And it's almost showtime for the Birmingham

Yes, women's boxing can divide public opinion.

But the sport has enjoyed a surge in popularity ever

since Nicola Adams won two Olympic gold medals in London and Beijing.

Tomorrow evening, Lauren Johnson will become Birmingham's first

female professional boxer, and Ian Winter has been to meet her.

If proud mum Pearline is looking a little pensive,

It's because her daughter is only 24 hours away from her first bout

I was in the kitchen making some food, and I just dropped everything.

I could not believe in it. But it is true, that explains why Lauren

Johnson has got brand-new boots for her brand-new career. Only four

years after taking up boxing, to get fit and lose weight, she has decided

to turn pro. When Lawrence steps into the ring at

Walsall town hall, she will become Birmingham's first female

professional boxer since the Queensbury rules were drawn up back

in 1867. How does that make you feel?

It feels great. I see it as another way to make my dad feel bad. He was

born in Birmingham. It feels great. It is fair to say

Lauren is not your average boxer. She is studying chronology at the

University of Wolverhampton, she works part-time at a Shrewsbury

nightclub and she follows a strict bigger than diet, no meat or dairy

products, to keep this professional in tiptop condition.

I personally think she has a lot of talent and I do believe, especially

Lauren, I think she can go very far. Her hard work and dedication have

impressed all the family but it is still not easy for her mum.

My heart sinks into my boots. I don't go ringside but I will stand

on the outskirts, I get very vocal. Some of the things I say cannot be

repeated. You are here at the side of the

ring, you will be there on Saturday. Come on, punch her!

You will hear her. With a little vocal support from mum, Lauren is

hoping for a winning debut against her Hungarian opponent tomorrow.

Good luck to her as well. Football now.

Aston Villa have had a good week with two wins.

But they'll be without Leondro Bacuna for the next few weeks.

That follows his sending off last weekend when he confronted assistant

Bacuna admitted an FA charge of violent conduct.

He will be missing for a while, would be playing this weekend.

Football starts this weekend. Villa are away to

Rotherham tomorrow. But the football starts tonight

in the Championship. Birmingham City at

home to Leeds United. And even before that,

we could have a European gold medal in athletics,

thanks to Stratford's Andrew Pozzi. He's through to the final

of the men's 60 metres hurdles at the European Indoor Championships

in Belgrade. So, when our programme has finished,

people can switch over Thank you very much today. Five

weeks the cricket season starts. Visitors to one of Britain's biggest

film festivals are to get a rare opportunity to see on screen how

they used to live. Organisers of the Borderlines

Festival have unearthed a film depicting life in a Herefordshire

village in the late 1970s. As Bob Hockenhull reports,

it's a fascinating glimpse Eardisland will be

dead in ten years. When a film crew visited

Eardisland in October 1978, residents were dead-set

against plans to make the village I'd have thought you'd be tickled

pink at being a conserved village. But we need devleopment

in the village. There was a lot of

doom-mongering in that film. So have the villagers'

fears come to pass? In the film, resident and developer

John Breen says Eardisland But later he was allowed

to build several houses With the passage of time,

I have probably mellowed. It wasn't as extreme

as we thought it might have been. But I think you still constantly

have to look at villages and let them grow organically

because they will die. It is true the village did end up

with fewer children. It is indicative of Herefordshire

as a whole really, which I find so ironic because Herefordshire

is a lovely place to The Eardisland archive

is a highlight at this year's Borderlines Film Festival,

its theme of vanishing youth from the countryside

is not lost on organisers. They have created a young

film-makers competition in To have this opportunity

to come into a production studio and make a film,

is a fantastic opportunity. This is an occasion

where everyone can come. 84 movies are shown at Borderlines,

the biggest rural film It will feature work

from across the world. But this glimpse into rural life

gone by will surely be a highlight. Bob Hockenhull, BBC

Midlands Today, Herefordshire. I asked Rebecca Wood

earlier for a brief pointer about the weather

to come this weekend. I am just preparing for a 12 hour

piano event. Please don't send in your complaints. I won't be playing.

There will be. Performances including from this gentleman here,

Simon, why are you taking part? I love the piano apart from anything

else and the piece I am about to do which I've always wanted to do but

never been invited in public. A piece by Strauss, the kind

Victorians loved, a recital with melodrama. It is a rather ripping

piece. I am very excited to do it particularly as part of this great

venture to support the Conservative are.

We will hear a little in a minute. John Thwaites is organising the

event, why? We wanted to do something epic,

spectacular, attention grabbing and I think we have got that. A lot of

people are coming along for a very exciting and unusual evening.

12 hours and you have quite a few bonkers things happening.

We have some serious things, Beethoven, Schubert, the bonkers bet

is we have a pianists living from his home in bars cycling through the

night, when he arrives he will go onto the stage on his bike and Lycra

and play the hardest piece ever written for piano by Ravel, setting

him a challenge. Fantastic, I'm sure lots of people

will be coming down to watch that. The weather is looking great but the

Environment Agency have started to close the floodgates on New Street

at Upton upon seven because of concerns over rising levels of the

River Severn. More rain this weekend but will -- it will get brighter.

Tonight, a band of rain is working its way northwards.

Behind that, some showers will ripple from the south. If you shower

is still to come. And textures will hold up to seven Celsius but low

pressure is driving our weather. Weather systems are battling to get

in but the centre of low pressure is over us.

Tomorrow will start dry and bright with sunshine in the morning.

A few breaks in the crowd before showers work their way in from the

south once again. Temperatures in the day getting up

to 10 Celsius. Through the night tomorrow, the

breeze will pick up. A freshening breeze, plenty of Cloud, holding

temperatures up to seven Celsius again.

That breeze will be a feature into Sunday.

Sunday is looking particularly messy. Two bands of rain will work

their way in from the West. The first living through with heavy

bursts. In between that, a slice of

brightness, some sunshine through Sunday.

Then a second band of showery rain will work its way in with us through

the afternoon. Temperatures not bad, holding up at

10 Celsius. Staying and settled into Monday, low pressure still in

charge, looking that way as we start the working week, very unsettled but

it should calm down into next week. Not too bad.

Enjoy the brightest bulbs. That was the best accompaniment I have ever

had! -- enjoyed the brightness.

Latest figures confirm our major hospitals in Stoke, Birmingham

and Coventry have some of England's highest levels of bed-blocking.

Our region's NHS trusts are predicted to have

deficits totalling more than ?2 billion by 2020.

This will be one of the two big talking points on Sunday

Patrick Burns can tell us about the other.

I will be talking to three top politicians ideally qualified

Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General and Conservative MP

Gisela Stewart, Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston,

chairman of Vote Leave, and former health minister.

Stephen Dorrell the former Health Secretary who now chairs

They will be joining me here, and I hope you will be too.

Here at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning here on BBC One.

Nicola Beckford's here at 10.25 with your late update.

Have a good evening and a wild weekend.

Back now to Birmingham Town Hall and Simon Callow

Let me hold my purpose until I die. Sit down again. Mark me and

understand, while I have power to speak.

I charge you now, when you shall see her, tell her that I died blessing

her. Praying for her.

Loving her. Cake-a-bake? Yeah.

What is that? It's like bake a cake,

but we flipped it. Oh, my God, we love flipping.

Cake-a-bake. Cake-a-baking. I love it.

I so love it when this happens. 15 celebrity acts

are coming together to Sing And Dance

For Comic Relief. # And the haters gonna

hate, hate, hate, hate, hate