:00:11. > :00:16.Welcome to Midlands Today. Tonight... 22 cars set alight in
:00:16. > :00:24.two weeks in just one town. Police arrested six people as a community
:00:24. > :00:28.leads in fair. It is just senseless. -- lives in fear. The family of a
:00:28. > :00:33.baby that died after being accidentally smothered feel let
:00:33. > :00:38.down by social services. A father looks for answers after finding his
:00:38. > :00:44.teenage son dead under the M6 motorway. Nobody understands
:00:44. > :00:54.exactly what has happened or how to deal with it. Outrage at a campaign
:00:54. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:05.poster warning meat eaters are Good evening. Welcome to
:01:05. > :01:09.Wednesday's Midlands Today. Tonight, the hunt continues for members of a
:01:09. > :01:15.gang of arsonists are leaving destruction across a town in
:01:15. > :01:18.Shropshire. 22 cars had been torched in Telford in two weeks.
:01:18. > :01:22.Residents are worried that if culprits are not caught, somebody
:01:23. > :01:29.could be seriously injured, or killed. Six people have been
:01:29. > :01:34.arrested but police are still hunting other suspects. The charred
:01:34. > :01:39.remains of one of 22 cars set alight in an arson attack in
:01:39. > :01:44.Telford. This taxi was torched in the early hours of Good Friday of a
:01:44. > :01:51.private driveway. The owner was awoken by police and escaped with
:01:51. > :01:59.his family as the flames caught his home cracking the windows. We could
:01:59. > :02:06.tell it was cracked because of the fire. It had easily caught on fire.
:02:06. > :02:11.This has broken. It has damaged my livelihood. I have got nothing.
:02:12. > :02:16.apparently senseless attacks led to a trail of damage in Telford in the
:02:16. > :02:23.past two weeks. The cars, park close to houses in the middle of
:02:23. > :02:28.the night. Tina's may be that the vehicle was burned. -- mobility
:02:28. > :02:36.difficult. She has now left a vehicle to miles away at her
:02:36. > :02:42.parents''s home. -- at her mother and father's house. I was worried
:02:42. > :02:46.and I have had advice around the area. His family became the latest
:02:46. > :02:53.victims in the early hours of yesterday when they found that
:02:53. > :02:57.their Vauxhall had been set alight. I have worked every day since I was
:02:57. > :03:04.16 and I did not deserve it. Nobody deserves it and I did not know how
:03:04. > :03:07.I will get to work tomorrow and get home. It is putting people out when
:03:07. > :03:13.you do not want to be inconvenienced. Many people do not
:03:13. > :03:18.have a spare car these days. Police are patrolling the streets and
:03:18. > :03:23.working closely with the emergency services. The neighbourhood is a
:03:23. > :03:29.little bit frightening. I talked to a lady in one of these houses and
:03:29. > :03:36.she said that she was scared. She said that she was worried that if
:03:36. > :03:41.they was a fire, -- there was a fire, she could not get out. Police
:03:41. > :03:45.are appealing for information as the community is getting worried.
:03:45. > :03:51.Here is our correspondent from Telford. It appears that the
:03:51. > :03:56.Community are understandably quite scared. Yes, they really are. We
:03:56. > :04:01.have seen this car in my report. It will set alight on the same night
:04:01. > :04:08.and on the same street. It is next in another burning car and the
:04:08. > :04:12.owners are standing side by side watching in horror. I am joined by
:04:12. > :04:18.a chief inspector from West Mercia police. I understand you have made
:04:18. > :04:22.six arrests. We have made another arrest. We have got a suspect in
:04:22. > :04:27.custody and it is being dealt with by my colleagues. But we have not
:04:27. > :04:31.had any charges. Six have already been arrested but on strict bail
:04:31. > :04:37.conditions. That has helped us to sort out these offences but we have
:04:37. > :04:41.not got any charges at the moment. What about the motives? We do not
:04:41. > :04:46.seem to have any. They are different makes and models.
:04:46. > :04:50.Individuals are not being targeted and not groups of individuals. This
:04:50. > :04:57.is pure vandalism and criminality and we do not understand why it is
:04:57. > :05:02.happening. It is just for kicks. The cars are Kate -- close to
:05:02. > :05:09.people's homes. How concerned are you? We have not had this in the
:05:09. > :05:13.entire year and to have had 22 since 27th March is very serious.
:05:13. > :05:18.We are concerned that they are part close to addresses and we have to
:05:18. > :05:25.be conscious about where these vehicles are parked. The police
:05:25. > :05:31.have appealed for witnesses. You can contact Crimestoppers or
:05:31. > :05:36.contact the non-emergency number. Coming up... Hopes and dreams.
:05:36. > :05:44.Tears and laughter. We meet the prize winning grandmother that has
:05:44. > :05:49.been asked to write a special poem for the Olympics. We feel let down
:05:49. > :05:54.by social services. That is the message of the family of a baby boy
:05:55. > :05:59.that have -- that has died after an accident in Staffordshire. Eight-
:05:59. > :06:03.month-old Alfie Smith died after being accidentally smothered by his
:06:04. > :06:10.sleeping father. The coroner said police and social services had made
:06:10. > :06:16.mistakes in the run-up to his death. His grave in Stoke-on-Trent is full
:06:16. > :06:19.of family tributes. He died before his first birthday. But the tragic
:06:19. > :06:25.circumstances of his accidental death have led to questions about
:06:25. > :06:29.his care during his life. The coroner heard that he died after
:06:29. > :06:33.his father rolled on top of him in his sleep. But in the months before
:06:33. > :06:38.his death, social services and the police had been involved with the
:06:38. > :06:42.family because they were facing difficulties. The coroner said that
:06:42. > :06:45.difficulties. The coroner said that it appears that people in high
:06:45. > :06:50.positions at the council had not appreciated the failings which
:06:50. > :07:00.existed and put a system in place to avoid what happened. He
:07:00. > :07:01.
:07:02. > :07:05.He had been placed in the care of Patricia Owen, his grandfather.
:07:05. > :07:11.Other members of the family said they had raised concerns because
:07:11. > :07:16.she struggled to cope. They made mistakes all along the way. I
:07:16. > :07:21.thought that he was just dumped there. It did not take anybody with
:07:21. > :07:25.a degree to realise that that poor lady was going to suck up with the
:07:25. > :07:30.consequences for the rest of her light. -- suffer. She could not
:07:30. > :07:35.cope. The case highlighted communication problems between
:07:35. > :07:40.agencies that had come into contact with the family. Part of my role is
:07:40. > :07:44.to make sure these actions did not disappear into the distance. That
:07:44. > :07:50.we assessed periodically and make sure that we have got proper
:07:50. > :07:54.systems in place. Following the inquest, the council and the police
:07:54. > :07:58.had said that lessons had been learned by all agencies involved.
:07:58. > :08:03.The coroner said ultimately that these mistakes and failures did not
:08:03. > :08:07.affect the outcome for Alfie Smith. He recorded a verdict of accidental
:08:07. > :08:11.death. But he said he was frustrated to see the death of a
:08:11. > :08:18.child sleeping alongside an adult and said that was fraught with
:08:18. > :08:22.danger. The message cannot be emphasised enough for parents. The
:08:22. > :08:26.man convicted of murdering a teacher from Warwickshire in Japan
:08:26. > :08:31.has lost his appeal against a light sentence. The body of Lindsay
:08:31. > :08:35.Hawker, aged 22 and from Brandon, was found in his flat five years
:08:35. > :08:41.ago. Tatsuya Ichihashi had argued that he had not intended to kill
:08:41. > :08:44.her. Five people from the Walsall area have been arrested in
:08:44. > :08:51.connection with the theft of antique china from the University
:08:51. > :08:54.of Durham's Oriental Museum. An 18th century jade bowl and
:08:54. > :08:59.porcelain worth �2 million were taken after a hole was made in an
:08:59. > :09:03.outside wall on Thursday. Four people have been arrested on
:09:03. > :09:08.conspiracy to commit burglary and a 5th has been arrested in connection
:09:08. > :09:12.with assisting an offender. A father has been speaking about the
:09:12. > :09:18.moment he found the body of his son under the M6 motorway in Birmingham
:09:18. > :09:22.are. He had been out with friends and was found dead on waste ground
:09:22. > :09:26.underneath the flyover. His family said that they have been left with
:09:26. > :09:32.many unanswered questions. His death is being treated as
:09:32. > :09:36.unexplained. Thomas Healy has been described as a gifted student.
:09:36. > :09:43.Somebody that would do anything for anybody. His father made a
:09:43. > :09:47.discovery nobody should ever make. It's was like your worst nightmare.
:09:47. > :09:55.I walked along the motorway and I saw something in the distance just
:09:55. > :09:59.lying down. It was my son. On Good Friday the 19-year-old met up with
:09:59. > :10:03.friends and reminisced about his days in Bishop Vesey's Grammar
:10:03. > :10:08.School in Sutton Colefield. They hired a taxi for a night out in
:10:08. > :10:11.Birmingham before going back to university. What happened? We
:10:11. > :10:16.understand that just before midnight the taxi pulled on to the
:10:16. > :10:23.hard shoulder and he got out. His body was found the following day
:10:23. > :10:28.below the fire there between junctions five and six. -- flyover.
:10:28. > :10:33.If anybody has seen him and knows what happened, please contact the
:10:33. > :10:38.police. The taxi company involved said that the driver stopped on the
:10:38. > :10:44.hard shoulder for safety reasons because a passenger was trying to
:10:44. > :10:48.open the door. Police are not taking further action. Friends had
:10:48. > :10:52.gathered at the site to lay tributes. They are too distraught
:10:52. > :10:55.to talk about what happened. They said it was still sinking in but
:10:55. > :11:00.they like many others are trying to work out what happened on Friday
:11:00. > :11:05.night. The family is waiting for the results of post-mortem
:11:05. > :11:15.examinations. I would not wish that on anybody, to go through what we
:11:15. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:26.are going through. And... Everybody is going to miss him. Here is our
:11:26. > :11:31.correspondent. Are the police closer to understanding exactly
:11:31. > :11:35.what happened? Tonight we have had the results of post-mortem
:11:35. > :11:39.examinations, confirming that he died because of injuries consistent
:11:39. > :11:44.with a fall. Police have a officially said it is not explained
:11:44. > :11:49.but they have said is not suspicious. They are appealing to
:11:49. > :11:55.drivers that might have witnessed it to come forward. But it does not
:11:55. > :12:00.answer the family's questions. What happened in the taxi? Why did
:12:00. > :12:08.Thomas depart from the vehicle? How did he fall from the fire that? The
:12:09. > :12:14.family might not actually get these answers. -- flyover? Speaking to
:12:14. > :12:18.his father, he said that he does not apportion any blame. He just
:12:18. > :12:28.wanted the full facts and then he would be able to properly mourn his
:12:28. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:33.son. A vegan campaign group has targeted Gloucester and said that
:12:33. > :12:36.meat-eating can lead to an early death. They have come up with a
:12:36. > :12:40.slogan called Fight Obesity - Go Vegan. They said they had chosen
:12:40. > :12:47.Gloucester because a mortuary has opened that can take bodies that
:12:47. > :12:52.way up to 50 stone. Health services have adapted to an obesity epidemic.
:12:52. > :12:58.We have got special ambulances for headier patients, wider wheelchairs
:12:58. > :13:03.and stronger operating tables. A mortuary has opened in Gloucester
:13:03. > :13:08.that can cope with bodies weighing up to 50 stone and that is why it
:13:08. > :13:13.has been targeted by this campaign. Some have been torn down but people
:13:13. > :13:18.from the ethical treatment of animals have said that meat-eating
:13:18. > :13:23.can lead to an early grave. We want to make people aware that eating
:13:23. > :13:27.meat can be detrimental to health. We have seen an obesity crisis
:13:27. > :13:32.already in this country. It is detrimental to the environment and
:13:32. > :13:37.causes immense animal suffering. The campaign has not gone down well
:13:37. > :13:43.with an industry that depends on eating meat. Chris Butcher is for
:13:43. > :13:48.an healthy diet but he said that they are scared to mongering. --
:13:48. > :13:54.scaremongering. That to my mind is very good for you and I do not
:13:54. > :13:59.understand. Nobody argues that obesity should not be tackled but
:13:59. > :14:04.it appears that this poster is not getting the message across. But a
:14:04. > :14:11.recent study indicated that a diet high in red meat can shorten life
:14:11. > :14:16.expectancy. Is a vegan diet the way forward? A plant-based diet can be
:14:16. > :14:20.a healthy approach to preventing cancer and obesity and more
:14:20. > :14:26.wholegrain is better. But meat and dairy have got used all nutrients
:14:26. > :14:31.like calcium. Have low-fat dairy and lean meat for nutrients but did
:14:31. > :14:35.not make it the whole part of the diet. The company has not decided
:14:35. > :14:40.whether or not to replace the poster or if it will be the start
:14:40. > :14:50.of a wider campaign to fight to be city with a meat-free message. --
:14:50. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:00.You do not like this poster? Why? It is extremely insulting to people
:15:00. > :15:04.who may for no particular reason become obese. Either through
:15:04. > :15:10.genetic problems or medical problems that they may have. The
:15:10. > :15:16.second thing is that eating meat is not a passport to an early death,
:15:16. > :15:20.it is the quantity that you meet and that is the real killer.
:15:20. > :15:24.Particularly... You have just heard about red meat with the disposition
:15:24. > :15:28.to heart disease. I think it is sending out the wrong message and I
:15:28. > :15:34.am delighted that part of it has been torn down. In it is medically
:15:34. > :15:39.wrong, are you saying that? It is radically wrong, yes. There are
:15:39. > :15:44.things that people find real difficulty sometimes with regarding
:15:44. > :15:49.their weight. It is an insult to those people and they really will
:15:49. > :15:57.be extremely annoyed at this poster. Why are you so glad it has been
:15:57. > :16:02.torn down? I understand parts of it has been -- have been torn down and
:16:02. > :16:07.I hope PETA do not repeated. They do have a point about the danger of
:16:08. > :16:13.pies? They do have a point. No smoke without fire. But I think
:16:13. > :16:17.that as your dietician pointed out, a rounded diet which is a little
:16:17. > :16:23.from all of the food groups is what you should be aiming for rather
:16:23. > :16:29.than basing your intake particularly on meat. Thank you.
:16:29. > :16:32.Still to come: once a hospital, later a school and now it is
:16:32. > :16:36.derelict. But there is a lifeline for one of the region's historic
:16:36. > :16:46.buildings. Do not be caught out by the showers.
:16:46. > :16:50.
:16:50. > :16:56.More heading our way and they are A little way off the grass court
:16:56. > :16:59.tennis season but we have some news. For 30 years, many of the world's
:16:59. > :17:05.top women tennis players have made a beeline for Birmingham to warn
:17:05. > :17:08.that for Wimbledon. Last year the Edgbaston Priory was almost
:17:08. > :17:18.stripped of the AEGON Classic. Since then it has received a
:17:18. > :17:19.
:17:19. > :17:24.facelift. 19-year-old Heather Watson is the
:17:24. > :17:26.British No. 3. Who better to inspire young children from the
:17:26. > :17:33.Community Programme at the Edgbaston Priory Club? My ranking
:17:33. > :17:37.night now is 115 in the world. -- right now. I am working hard to get
:17:37. > :17:42.back inside the top 100. Last year she made her debut at the AEGON
:17:42. > :17:48.Classic, the traditional stop-off point before Wimbledon. I love
:17:48. > :17:51.playing this tournament. I had a lot of fun here last year. There is
:17:51. > :17:56.always a great atmosphere playing here and I love the home crowd
:17:56. > :18:00.support. It could have been very different. After 30 years of
:18:00. > :18:09.staging the AEGON Classic, the club was under pressure to improve its
:18:09. > :18:13.facilities or lose the tournament. Now the work is reaching completion.
:18:13. > :18:18.Edgbaston Priory Club was not fit for purpose for major international
:18:18. > :18:21.tournaments. We sat down with the City Council and the Lawn Tennis
:18:21. > :18:26.Association to come up with a plan to provide the facilities the
:18:26. > :18:29.players' required. News will get around on a tour to say, at bow to
:18:29. > :18:35.the AEGON Classic, it is a great tournament with great facilities.
:18:36. > :18:39.It is not just about the tournament. It is about the community and
:18:39. > :18:48.investment in local parks and making sure this is a world-class
:18:48. > :18:52.community facility as well. first big test will come in June.
:18:52. > :18:57.The Worcestershire pace bowler Alan Richardson says he is honoured to
:18:57. > :19:03.have been chosen as one of Wisden's top five Cricketers of the year. He
:19:03. > :19:06.will be 37 next month and was the highest wicket-taker last season in
:19:06. > :19:11.the county championship. His coach says he is an inspiration to the
:19:11. > :19:19.younger players. I love watching him bowl. He is in the best years
:19:19. > :19:25.of his life. He had an awesome achievement last year. He runs in
:19:25. > :19:30.hard, as a good rhythm. He can do a little bit in the air and his
:19:30. > :19:34.tremendous to watch. She was born in Jamaica and raised a family in
:19:35. > :19:38.Birmingham and she has always loved expressing her emotions on paper.
:19:38. > :19:43.Now Ita Gooden has won a competition linking poetry with
:19:43. > :19:47.sport. She is one of a dozen poets chosen to compose an original verse
:19:47. > :19:54.to celebrate the Cultural Olympics 2012.
:19:54. > :19:59.Life is like a road. Leading to everywhere and sometimes know where.
:19:59. > :20:03.Poetry is have passion and now that passion is about to be given a
:20:03. > :20:08.voice at the Cultural Olympiad. Ita Gooden has won a national
:20:08. > :20:15.competition to find 12 poets to celebrate London 2012. Hopes and
:20:15. > :20:22.dreams, tears and laughter, happiness and disaster, loyalty and
:20:22. > :20:25.betrayal. In search of inspiration, Ita has popped into the Alexander
:20:25. > :20:31.Stadium in Birmingham to meet Nathan Douglas, one of Britain's
:20:31. > :20:40.top athletes. I am very intrigued to see what she comes up with.
:20:40. > :20:43.you're a poet? Not really. I wish I was! Five years ago, he won silver
:20:43. > :20:46.at the European Indoor Championships. He went on to
:20:46. > :20:51.produce a top 20 finish in Beijing and now he is training hard for
:20:51. > :20:58.London 2012 at Birmingham's High Performance Centre. Poetry in
:20:58. > :21:05.motion for Ita Gooden. Look at that! The speed that he is going
:21:05. > :21:10.at! Some inspiration there for a poem. Goodness gracious, yes. I do
:21:10. > :21:14.not think my pen will ever go as fast! Ita was born in Jamaica so no
:21:14. > :21:19.wonder she is looking forward to seeing the world's finest athletes
:21:19. > :21:25.training in Birmingham. How about a poem for Usain Bolt to welcome him
:21:26. > :21:30.to Birmingham? Is that a challenge? I will definitely do that.
:21:30. > :21:36.Cultural Olympics are funded by almost �70 million of lottery money
:21:36. > :21:41.and suitably inspired Ita Gooden is itching to start work on her
:21:41. > :21:48.celebration poems of London 2012. I cannot wait to hear it Ita's poem
:21:48. > :21:52.about Usain Bolt. Six straight defeats for the Wolves and only six
:21:52. > :21:56.games left. They start tonight at home to Arsenal. The last time they
:21:57. > :22:00.met in December, Steven Fletcher and a valuable point from a 1-1
:22:00. > :22:05.draw. Time is fast running out if Wolves are to survive in the
:22:05. > :22:09.Premier League next season. BBC WM will have regular reports
:22:09. > :22:15.from Molineux and full match commentary on West Brom's game away
:22:15. > :22:21.to Manchester City. You can see all of the goals on Match Of The Day at
:22:21. > :22:26.10:25pm. We have a message saying, they are
:22:26. > :22:30.not in a relaxed state of mind. He is not the only one!
:22:30. > :22:34.Where were we? One of the region's most important historic buildings
:22:34. > :22:40.has moved a step closer to being saved. The 14th century former
:22:40. > :22:45.grammar school has been derelict for more than 20 years.
:22:45. > :22:49.Dating back to 1340, Coventry Grammar School as it is now known
:22:49. > :22:54.first opened as an infirmary before becoming a hospital chapel and then
:22:54. > :23:00.a school. It is a scheduled ancient monument on English Heritage's at
:23:00. > :23:04.risk register. You can see why. Signs of rodents are one thing and
:23:04. > :23:09.the abandoned state of some of the rooms another. The main hall is
:23:09. > :23:13.pretty much intact with authentic furnishings. One of the most
:23:13. > :23:17.interesting things in here are these wooden pews. Nobody knows
:23:17. > :23:23.exactly how old they are but we can reference some kind of date because
:23:23. > :23:27.there is some graffiti. If you look closely, you can see it is dated
:23:27. > :23:33.17th 72. We have built around it without considering how important
:23:33. > :23:38.it is. Let us repeat, it is probably the largest by far oldest
:23:38. > :23:42.buildings still standing in the City. That is by about 200 years.
:23:42. > :23:48.Now the Heritage Lottery Fund has earmarked the building for a grant.
:23:48. > :23:51.It would be incorporated into the city's Transport Museum and used to
:23:51. > :23:55.display this collection of artefacts from the car industry
:23:55. > :24:04.which are currently kept in storage. All sorts of things, trophies,
:24:04. > :24:08.magazines, books, a wards... A huge heritage for the city. Schools will
:24:08. > :24:12.be able to come and see the objects and they will be able to see them
:24:12. > :24:20.and see what sort of things we have on offer. The museum is now drawing
:24:20. > :24:29.up detailed plans and hopes to get full approval early next year.
:24:30. > :24:33.Let us find out more about the It was not a day to be caught
:24:33. > :24:38.without an umbrella. You will find you will be ducking and diving over
:24:38. > :24:46.the next couple of days. Quite a few showers around. By the weekend,
:24:46. > :24:50.they will start to die out. Now, we have got quite a lot of fronts
:24:50. > :24:54.hovering so that is why we have got showers over the next couple of
:24:54. > :24:59.days. By Sunday, there will be one front heading in from the north.
:24:59. > :25:03.You can see the isobars starting to tighten indicating strengthening
:25:03. > :25:07.winds. Right now, it is looking quite bright because the showers
:25:08. > :25:13.are beginning to die away. We still run the risk of thunder and
:25:13. > :25:18.lightning until about 9pm. After that, much of more dry and more
:25:18. > :25:23.clear. Down to two degrees which will give rise to a slight frost.
:25:23. > :25:27.Also, some mist. That will clear by the morning. A cracking start to
:25:27. > :25:30.the day with a lot of sunshine but not for long. The showers will
:25:30. > :25:36.start to roll in and get there and congregate from the north-west.
:25:36. > :25:40.They will be quite heavy once again. With lighter winds, a good
:25:40. > :25:44.quantities of rain. Again there is the risk of thunder and lightning
:25:44. > :25:48.and possibly even Hale. Top temperatures in the sunshine of
:25:48. > :25:52.around 11 degrees. The skies will clear and the temperatures will
:25:52. > :25:57.fall even lower through the night so head. More of a frost tomorrow
:25:57. > :26:00.night. And again on Friday night. The winds will pick up and the
:26:00. > :26:04.temperatures will drop. By the weekend, few are showers but it
:26:04. > :26:08.will be colder. The headlines: jailed for 11 years,
:26:08. > :26:12.the man who set fire to a furniture store in London during last
:26:12. > :26:16.summer's riots. 22 cars set alight in just two