07/01/2013 Inside Out West Midlands

Hello and welcome to Birmingham, where tonight, we are on the trail

of a notorious 19th century Brummie gang up. Also on the programme,

seeking justice for Joanna. The parents of a murdered student

returned to France 20 years after their daughter's death. In a way,

it is my favourite place, because it is the place that brings be

First tonight, we are off to Africa with the charity that turns

unwanted medical drugs into potential life-savers. In the UK,

the waist up to �800 million of medicine each year. -- we waste.

Most end up in landfill, but some find their way to Malawi. They are

worth as over here, but potential life-savers out in Africa. It is a

crying shame, because the need is great in Africa and in the third

world in general. People walk up to 30 miles to get these drugs

delivered by a Midlands charity. B drugs we do not need a making a big

difference in Malawi. 8,000 miles away, we are in the front line.

This is how we get around in Malawi. It is not a in an appearance we

would recognise at home, but we are bouncing about in the back of a

pick-up truck. -- it is not an ambulance. People cycle for miles

to get the medicines we take for granted. It is the basic medicines

we are dealing with. If we can see -- keep sending them the basic

medicines, we can make a difference. That includes painkillers that we

pay pennies for. Also the cost per day's pay in Malawi, where life

expectancy is 40. Our lives in a way are about novelty and

stimulation, and hit it is about survival. We are in one of the

poorest countries in the world here. Any medicines they can get are not

going to be wasted in Malawi. you very much. That's great.

Goodbye. John Graham is a volunteer, returning unused drugs from unused

surgeries in -- from some surgeries in Loughborough. They are clearly

needed in each clinic. They used them, and they save lives. Dot this

comes rapidly in Africa. Our first stop is Nazama. It is near the

Mozambique border. We will do this one, because they have not got any

collectors city. There is a power cut. There is a power cut most days.

Why do get more patients in October and November? It is because of the

brain season. And we get more malaria. We used the camera like to

look around. It is a bit different to a labour ward in the UK! Refined

three women about to give birth. Two have walked from Mozambique.

This is made by Lutterworth Rotary Club. an these people would give

A warehouse near Leicester is the hub for Intercare. It is staffed by

volunteers, including pharmacists and doctors. A charity that exists

because a couple of Leicester GPs back in the 1970s realised how

stupid it is to throat reusable drugs of way. It is a crying shame,

because the need is as great as ever in Africa and in the Third

World in general. Here we are, in England, not looking at this

subject closely enough to see whether we can be useful enough to

other people in need. Intercare sent trucks took six of Africa's

Bora -- poorest companies. Direct mean they are posted to an

individual, to make sure they are right. Some walk 45: It has to be

treated at his clinic. Alan and Carol have arrived. -- 45

kilometres. When they come and they see the need that is there, the

purpose of the visit is to assess whether the right drugs are being

sent. What would it be like if you did not get that assistance?

disaster. Because if you visit the hospital, you can see the people

who are coming. If you do not have the medicines, we just stay at home.

We head north to Malawi's second city, Blantyre. Nearby is St

Joseph's at Limbe. It is a big hospital. Unsurprisingly, they do

not have enough trucks. Do you also do prescriptions for outpatients?

Yes, the out-patient's department. This mother is lacking in energy,

and sucking on nut solution. Her baby is tiny, perhaps to tiny, we

are told, to survive. It is heartbreaking. I have found myself

in tears many times in Africa. And in situations like that little baby,

they bring might -- bring me to tears on a regular basis. Even in

less rural areas, poor nutrition, malaria and AIDS all contribute to

a high mortality rate between -- among young children. Just because

one is a lot bigger but then the other, there is a wider degree of

services, it does not mean that they are catering to very real

needs. Another day bouncing down the dusty road. This time to the

isolated Namulenga. How are you? I'm good! And you? Here, there is a

small medical centre of wasting a rush of patients -- a waiting by a

There is a community here, a school, It is a powerful welcome from the

autumn's at best orphanage. -- the orphans. At this place, there is no

government help for the sick. wish Intercare all the best,

because they have saved our lives. So, Intercare, you have to keep it

Alan and Carol spent two weeks on the road is in the hospital's

Intercare supplier with vital drugs. Intercare isn't sending more

medicines than ever before. Over a 38 years, we have sent �10 million

worth of drugs. Most of the Yet Intercare only uses a fraction

of the medicines that are we buried in landfill or burn in incinerators.

The need is very dramatic. We couldn't do all we can, but we can

do so much more if we get more And you can find out more about the

work of Intercare on our face put paid, and he can talk to us on

Twitter using the hashtag #insideout. Still to come, the

leading role that the Peaky Blinders played in Birmingham's

dark history. Gang warfare was the number one thing that was holding

Birmingham back. The whole city was surrounded by this violent street

culture. In May 1990, Joanna Parrish, a young student from

Gloucestershire, was murdered in France. No one has ever been

convicted of her killing, but now a fresh investigation has uncovered a

new suspect. We followed it her parents back to France in their

search for new answers. The question of who murdered Joanna

Parrish has altered her parents for 20 years. Tonight, we followed them

back to France on an emotional journey. It is very hard. It is

like saying to Joanna that we are thinking of her. There is Aysgarth

-- startling discovery about new evidence. I cannot believe it. It

sounds almost as if they could have been a lead 20 years ago. -- there

could have been a lead. We have been trying to visit the

Pauline and Roger are planning one heading to France. It is difficult.

My stomach has already started churning. I think when I get there,

I will be fine. If they note he we are, they may make a little bit

more effort. We don't know how we are going to feel. It will stick

with us, and always will do. We do get apprehensive and nervous, and

worried that we are going to meet people at certain times. That comes

into it. But we feel that we have got to do it, and that is one of

the reasons why the investigators - - the investigation has remained

The investigation has been hit by a catalogue of errors. This summer

French investigators announced they are now considering a new suspect

for Joanna's murder. He has only been identified so far as TV. Roger

and Pauline are off to France to find out more and see if any

progress can be made. Joanna Parrish was on a university

placement in Auxerre as a teaching assistant. Weeks before she was due

to go home, she placed an advert in the local newspaper offering

English lessons. On 16th May, 1990, she was seen in the centre of

Auxerre waiting to meet someone who had answered the advert. The next

morning, her body was found four miles away in the River Yonne. She

had been raped and strangled. 22 years later and Joanna's parents

stare into the same stretch of water where their daughter was

found. In a way, it is my favourite place because it is the one that

brings me closer to Jo, I think. We know that she was here. And I just

sort of feel I want her to know that we have come back. Obviously

we do not come very often. It is not like somewhere in your own

country where you can keep revisiting. To me, it is very, very

important. It is the one that hurts the most. It is a bit like the

sunshine that you probably don't know about.... But the sunshine,

when the sun shines, Jo is there. I have a sudden warm feeling that I

can feel her with me. Despite the police announcement earlier this

year of a new lead, the serial killer Michel Fourniret and his

wife Monique Oliver still remain the chief suspects. Oliver once

confessed to Jo's murder but later retracted it. Back in 1990, they

often stayed close to where Jo lived. It is a place where Jo was

happy during her time. Since then, Pauline and Roger have made strong

links with the town and many friends. It is great to see you.

This person was an English teacher at the same school as Jo. She was a

lovely girl, very lively. Pretty too. That is the first time we came

and Jo was there. We arrived very late. Yes. His head came out the

window at the top. Where have you been? The dinner is in the oven.

After Jo was murdered, we learnt a lot of ghastly things of all the

affairs... The cases that had happened in Auxerre. This is not

easy to think about. This man is a campaigner for justice who has

already successfully helped convict another serial killer when the

local police were reluctant to investigate. He understands just

how frustrated Pauline and Roger are with their fight. The people

responsible for investigating these crimes, the examining magistrates,

the prosecutors, the gendarmerie, the police... They cannot escape

criticism. TRANSLATION: I think that Roger and Pauline have a lot

of courage as things have taken far too long. Many lines of inquiry

should have already been investigated. Pauline and Roger

have travelled from Auxerre to Paris to meet with their legal team

to find out more about the suspect known only as TV. He is currently

in prison for rape and was living in Auxerre at the time of Jo's

murder. TV's former partner told the police that at around the time

of the murder he came home with scratches on his face and a bag

similar to the one Jo had with her. But it appears this is not new

information. Do you mean this woman had mentioned it before? He was

taken in 1992 for rape. She made a statement at the time. The police

told her that everything was finished. In a statement, nothing

to find. For Roger and Pauline, it is a shocking revelation. I am very

frustrated course. If the new lead had been investigated 20 years

earlier, we might not be in this position. It is just another

example of things not being investigated properly and

officially. It would be nice to think that we are going to get some

more knowledge or whatever of either the new league or the old

serial-killer lead. I am nearly 70 now. Final stop for Roger and

Pauline, Paris where the new exam and a magistrate for the case has

agreed to meet them. -- examining magistrate. A bit nervous. They are

meeting with her lawyer behind closed doors. The magistrate will

oversee the new investigation, an opportunity for real progress, it

is hope. As Roger and Pauline emerged, all is not well. When we

mentioned the name of the serial killer and his wife who we are

still deeply suspicious about, she seemed to be willing to dismiss

their possible involvement in Jo's case. We had to make it absolutely

clear that despite the fact this was a new league which is

interesting and we want it to be followed up, there is no possible

way we feel that the other lead involving the serial killer and his

wife should be dismissed or even put on the back-burner. I am so

pleased we came. Had we not, they would have tried to close the case.

The lawyer fought for the investigation to be kept open and

police the French justice system has let Roger and Pauline down in

the past. Despite a number of requests, no one from the Paris

public prosecutor's office would speak to the BBC. With a new

suspect being investigated for other crimes, this could prolong

the process for Roger and Pauline. Their resolve to get justice is

still strong despite the 22 years that have passed since their

daughter's death. You are watching Inside Out in the

West Midlands. If you have a story you think we should be covering,

drop me any now. -- and email. Backing the 1890s, a and called the

Peaky Blinders rose to Providence. We have been on the set of a new

BBC drama which will bring them back to life. Birmingham, home to

just over a million people. Like any city, it's had its fair share

of troubles, some of which are about to become unmissable

television. Welcome to 1920s Birmingham and the film set of

Peaky Blinders, a drama all about one of the most violent gangs in

Birmingham's history. You can see it on your TV later this year. I'm

here to find out what it is about this part of Birmingham's dark past

that will make great television and how they've used the facts to

create fiction. Little snapshots stories. It was not a whole saga. I

just got snapshots, visual images, of what life was like in the 20s

where there were people operating who were very well dressed, who

were often armed. In that world of poverty, they stood out and they

were folk heroes in the area. According to Birmingham folklore,

the Peaky Blinders got their name by concealing razor blades in the

peaks of their caps and using them as weapons. It's a story that

screenwriter Steven Knight heard while he was growing up. I started

to delve a little deeper and do some research about it. It takes a

lot of delving to find these stories, the stories of the gangs

and how they operated. There was a gang called the Brummigian Boys run

by a character called Billy Kimber. They really were the dominating

force in all of this. You see this potential for fiction sitting there

and it's on your doorstep and it's from snapshots of stories from your

family... I just really wanted to tell the story. At the time people

who will involve this type of thing... At the time, there was a

gang called the Peaky Blinders. the story of the real Peaky

Blinders began in the late 1800s. So why does this drama place them

in the 1920s? When they were young tear-aways, and often they were

very young, they were in their early teens when they were being

arrested and doing what they were doing. They were like lawless

youths on the street. They went away to war and when they came back

they were still referred to locally as Peaky Blinders. So what we have

is them grown up, gone to the trenches and being traumatised,

come back damaged. This is when It's been fascinating watching how

they put this drama together. But as we've said, it's based on real

people. So, time to get back to Birmingham to find out a bit more

about the real Peaky Blinders. Back then, England's second city was

changing. The Industrial Revolution had meant the population was

growing and thousands of people were moving here looking for work.

It made it the perfect breeding- ground for violence. Gang warfare

was the number-one thing that was holding Birmingham back. It was

giving it a violent reputation. Thieves were carrying out on their

work unhindered. The police were surrounded by this violent street

culture. You need to dig deep to uncover this story. So Dr Philip

Gooderson, a historian who's written a book about the teenage

tear-aways, is taking me on a journey around some of the streets

where it all began. I think it was a very exciting place to live,

actually. In the 1870s, you've got a huge, booming economy, lots of

metal industries and a contrast between two aspects of city life.

You've got an area like this. This is where the money is being made,

where all the work's being done. But you've got all these young

people who, having been to the board schools that the chamberlains

and the city fathers have set up, find they've not much to do. Once

they have left school... There are no places for them to go. They're

on the streets. They're a bit harassed by the police. They've got

to find their own entertainments and they've got a bit of money in

their pockets because a lot of them are straight into work. There's not

much unemployment in the boom of the 1870s when this starts. And the

term Peaky Blinder, where does that come from? Well, we're not really

quite sure. The first sign of it is in 1890 when there's this gang in

Adderley Street and they're called the Peaky Blinders Gang. That gang

was led by Thomas Mucklow. In one early tale, they took exception to

a teetotaler in their local pub after he ordered a ginger beer.

They tripped him up. He came out quite rapidly and they followed him

down the street. They caught him about here. And then? They set on

him. They knocked him over and started kicking him. Then one of

them hit him over the head with a heavy buckle. That was what really

did the damage. He had a compound fracture of his skull. The fearsome

name of the Peaky Blinders must have captured Birmingham's

imagination. In the mid 1890s, Peaky Blinder became a general term

that was used to describe all sorts of lawless youths. Henry Lightfoot

was one such man. In fact, he's one of the first people that Birmingham

Magistrates directly called a Peaky Blinder. We've managed to track

down some of his family in Solihull and they've given us a fascinating

insight into what happened to Henry. It is amazing what the documents

show. Henry Lightfoot stole doorknobs, was sentenced to nine-

months hard-labour and took part in violent assaults holding people

down hitting them and kicking them. Yet he goes off to serve in the

First World War, is wounded in the head, found buried in a trench for

15 hours and came back a hero with medals. But in the late 1890s, long

before the Great War, the city was still changing. New clubs for boys

were opening and they were designed to keep them off the street. But

the police still needed to get a grip on those lawless slums. In

1899, a new chief constable arrived from Ireland, Charles Haughton

Rafter. We know that Rafter went on holiday to Ireland in 1901. There

is evidence, but no proof, that he went on a recruiting drive. It's

recorded, "Can you read? Can you write? Can you fight?" That's what

he was asking the large Irish men. If you could, they were recruited

into Birmingham Police. They came back over here and patrolled Summer

Lane in threes and quickly cleared it up. There you have it the

little-known story of the Peaky Blinders, gang warfare in 19th

century Birmingham. You can see why it'll make great television. One of

the reasons for doing this is because it is a sort of secret

history. I think the English are not good at mythologising their

past like the Americans. So far it has gone down well. We have got a

fantastic cast. We've got Cillian Murphy, Sam Neil & Helen McCrory.

Really great actors who were attracted by the material and

attracted by the world. I really want people, especially in the

first ten minutes, to go, "This is Birmingham? My God." It's not what

you're expecting. I think that if you were to travel in time and go

back to Birmingham in those days, you would be shocked at what's

there and the stories that are there. I just find it a vivid,

But is it for tonight. Do not forget, you can find more

information on our Facebook page. From Birmingham, good night.

Coming next week: revisit the village where the locals fought to