02/11/2016 Midlands Today

A man's been found guilty of killing his son, who was only

Daniel Sanzone was today convicted of murdering baby Joshua

by shaking him so violently he caused "catastrophic"

The judge described it as a "tragic and distressing case".

Today, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court also found him guilty

But the baby's mother Zoe Howell was allowed to walk free,

after the jury cleared her of a charge of causing

or allowing her son's death and neglect.

Joshua Millinson was born a bright and healthy baby.

But 13 days later, he suffered catastrophic brain injuries

at the hands of his own father.

It is very difficult to comprehend

and understand Sanzone as a character

and what would lead him to do something so tragic to such a

Here in the lounge of this house, last October,

here in Pendeford, Daniel S`nzone violently shook Joshua leavhng him

with brain injuries so severe, he could no longer hear,

He claimed a loud noise heard that night was not him

injuring his child, he was simply moving the settee

Joshua's mother Zoe Howell had separated from Sanzone

She clutched a baby's toy each day of the trial.

She denied causing or allowhng her baby's death by

effectively turning a blind eye to his violence.

The first year of a child's life is the time in which

they are most vulnerable to becoming

a victim of homicide because young

children of that age are very

demanding, they are very vocal in

terms of their needs and having

And where you have parents who are unwilling or

unable to meet those needs, you have

got a potentially dangerous situation.

Here clutching a brown bag hs Joshua's grandmother Sharon Howell.

And in the recording of a 999

call, you get a sense of the panic

as she attempted CPR on the lifeless baby.

Joshua Millinson died at Birmingham's Children's

Parents know the difference between right and wrong.

things, making things up, not

attending appointments and those are

all really, really important red

Zoe Howell and Joshua were regularly visited by community midwivds

And they consistently encountered a healthy and alert child.

The parents brought Joshua here to A at New Cross Hospital on

two separate occasions in the days before the shaking incident,

apparently concerned about breathing difficulties and a possible

But a junior doctor examined the baby and found no cause for

concern and the parents then failed to show for a follow-up check.

But the court was told that bone specialists have concluded that

Joshua may have suffered a of fractures before

So could the agencies who c`me into contact with this family

and even entered the house had done anything to prevent Joshua's death?

Ben Godfrey, BBC Midlands Today, Wolverhampton.

Two children and a man have been found dead in a house in Hinckley

Police were called to the house last night.

Our reporter Nicola Beckford is in Hinckley for us now.

Police were called to this house in Welwyn Road at about half p`st nine

yesterday evening, following a disturbance. Negotiators were

brought in and they make contact with a man and a woman inside the

house. What happened next w`s a stand-off and that went on for a

couple of hours until the e`rly hours of the morning. Later, a woman

was found. She was injured `nd she was found. She was injured `nd she

was taken to hospital where she remained in a stable condithon.

Early on, we spoke to the ddtective who is leading the investig`tion.

The officers entered the address and they found a male who h`s been

Tragically, and very traumatically, the officers, on searching the

address, have also found two deceased children.

At this stage, the enquiries are at a very early

stage and we are trying to understand what happened last night

What is the latest tonight? The man has been named locally as

43-year-old David Stokes. The two children are believed to be his

sons, five-year-old Adam and 11-year-old Matthew. The wolan is

believed to be his wife. Now, we don't know how they died so

postmortem will need to be carried out to establish the facts. What we

do know however is that the police state that they are not looking for

anybody else in connection with this tragic incident. Thank you.

A school boy's become a sochal media sensation with his diary

about battling bone cancer `nd he's now hoping followers will crowd fund

potentially life-saving specialist treatment.

Nine year old Alexander who lives on the Warwickshire

Leicestershire border was dhagnosed in June this year.

It's been keeping me from my friends, it's

been making me unable to walk and do fun stuff so they're thinking

about doing a hip replacement which means

I'll be a cyborg and I'll have a robot bone or they'll

do proton beams, like it hits the tumour like a laser

but it won't hurt my leg but it will scar my bone.

More than 100 supporters of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre

have been at a public meeting tonight to try and prevent ht

The BAC O'Connor service in Staffordshire

has been told that council funding will be halved and that one

Campaigners have said tonight that they need to collect more

than 5,000 signatures by thd end of this month to present

A 75-year-old man from Birmhngham's been praised by police for fighting

off a gang who tried to steal his car in a dark tunnel.

Anthony Mathers was thrown to the ground and suffered cuts

and bruises in the incident, the start of which was caught on camera.

He was threatened with a knhfe and imitation gun, but,

as Giles Latcham reports, he was in no mood to give in.

Anthony Mathers was on a routine trip to

On his way, a tunnel he has driven through thousands of

times but then up ahead, a menacing figure loomed into view.

I didn't even think at the time what they were after.

But it soon became clear, it was his Ford S-Max.

The 75-year-old was bundled from the vehicle.

The other one pulled a knifd and my

reaction to that was, if you come close to me,

That I think if one of them had come near me, I

The robbers did drive off briefly but stalled the car

at the top of the road allowing Mr Mathers time to catch up

I mean, I am 75, I did my bdst and apparently it worked.

The police say they are takhng this incident

extremely seriously, officers are patrolling

A 17-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Detectives are looking for two more suspects, all

described as in their late teens and of Asian appearance.

Normally we advise people not to fight back in

those circumstances but Anthony acted very bravely, very heroically

to maintain control of his vehicle and to prevent them from

The former Land Rover worker paid a price

though, thrown to the ground three times before he wrestled his keys

from the robbers but he says he would do it all again.

People at my age are entitldd to a quiet life.

They don't deserve people coming up to them, trying to get their

Mr Mathers is grateful to three women

Giles Latchum, BBC Midlands Today, Birmingham.

A snake that gave a couple ` shock when it appeared in their ndwly

purchased car and then disappeared has been recovered four days later.

Claire Brealey and her partner Gavin Reed became aware of the snake

when it wrapped around their dog's legs as they drove home on the M5

It was finally found behind a piece of plastic panelling and has now

Funnily enough, I found a couple of things on the front of my c`r

yesterday. It turned out to be the windscreen wipers.

And that's about all from the late team.

We'll be back from six in the morning during BBC Breakfast.

For now I'll leave you with the weather from Rebecca.

How on earth do I follow th`t? It was a stunning day to day and we

have ended up with some stunning scenery tonight. It has been a

glorious evening for many places, lots of lovely sunsets. As we head

into tomorrow, but of a change on the way. Still going to be puite

cold but we've got some clotd and we are likely to see some rain as we

had through the day. High-pressure managing to hold on for a lhttle

longer keeping things settldd. But we stuck to the best weather system

working in its way. It is good is picking up the cloud and brhng with

it a bit of rain. Tonight, high pressure in charge. Close p`l and

the winds have dropped. We `re likely to see our temperatures

plummeting. We are starting to see some places dipping below freezing.

It is going to continue to fall away. Some chilly spots. Telpters

below freezing in some placds and some frost to come tomorrow. We

start the day cold and frosty. It will be great to begin with. Some

brighter spells. The car picking up, working its way in from the north

and west and there will be some patchy rain lifting upwards. 10

Celsius and in the back row, perhaps not feeling as pleasant as ht did

today. More information on that and a look ahead at the weekend in the

national forecast. Here's the outlook for

not stop the temperature is coming up to around 12. Mick Miller has the

national picture. The weather may have turned colder

but for many of us today there was abundant sunshine. This is from the

end of the day from Oxfordshire Cold and clear by day and clear and

even colder overnight. That is the recipe at this time of year.

Widespread ground frost setting in. Parts of East Anglia already below

freezing. In western Scotland, temperatures may stabilise. It could

even go up