12/04/2012 Midlands Today

Hello, welcome to the programme. The headlines. A family's dismay as

a schoolgirl with Down's syndrome has a her picture hijacked and

ridiculed on the internet. You just feel sick, and sad that people have

got so little respect, or human kindness, really.

Brighter jobs news as a Chinese lighting firm moves manufacturing

to Birmingham. As Syria agrees a temporary

ceasefire, exiles pledge to keep up the pressure with a demonstration

in Birmingham tonight. We are conscious of making sure that

people continue to think about what is happening in Syria, continue to

be active. 100 years after the Titanic sank in

the act -- Atlantic, remember in the Midlands links with the ill-

fated liner. Good evening, welcome to Thursday's

Midlands Today from the BBC. Our top story tonight, how internet

abuse has disgusted the family of a teenager with Down's Syndrome. The

mother of Heidi Crowter today appealed to so-called internet

trollers to stop posting sick and offensive messages about her

daughter. Pictures of Heidi were copied from a parents support group

website without permission. They were then posted on other Facebook

pages where users were invited to mock young people with disabilities.

Sarah Falkland reports. She is great fun, she has always

got a caring and happy attitude. She is very sensitive. 16 year-old

Heidi Crowter has Down's syndrome. Four year, she has been a victim of

internet trolls. Pictures has appeared on a Facebook page,

entitled, do not listen to the guy above me, she has Down's syndrome.

She has always -- also been put on another more sexually explicit page.

You feel sick and sad that people have got so little respect for

human kindness, that they can do something like this. Until

yesterday, Heidi, from Coventry, had been shielded from the truth

about the trolls, but with her parents trying to tell Wedding --

get wider support, she felt could not keep it a secret. I think it is

an acceptable. Were you very shocked? A little bit, yes. In a

statement today, Facebook says there is a policy in place for

Heidi's mother to report these unauthorised photos. She tells us

that she and a small army of her friends have been doing that since

last October. The statement went on to say that Facebook has a real

identity Prost -- policy, which makes people accountable for their

actions and behaviour, and a set of rules which are intended to create

a balance between enabling free- speech, and preventing harassment

and abuse. One of the first high- profile cases of trolling involved

this Worcestershire schoolgirl who died after throwing herself under a

train. Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks for targeting bereaved

families on line. He is the second Pursey -- person to be jailed for

trying in the UK. Bay of Risley do not know anyone with Down's

syndrome, -- they obviously do not know anyone with Down's syndrome,

they think things about them like they are stupid, when clearly Heidi

is not and other people are not. They definitely would not do it is

a new Heidi. She is intelligent. know! Is the people who did this

are watching now, what would you like to say to them? I would like

to say, stop doing it, please. With a snout is Professor Ellis

Cashmore, who is a professor of social media -- with us now. We

seem to be hearing more and more about the dark side of the internet.

Patrols, yes. It is a difficult question to answer -- the trolls,

yes. Intentional malice is not quite enough. I imagine they are

people who do not command any authority or respect from their

front in everyday life, and out of their frustration with their own

insignificance, they decide to try and distinguish themselves. And one

they can do this with a fair degree of confidence that they will not be

Is on social media sites. And they are cool, sadistic sometimes. An

absolutely offensive -- and they are cruel, sadistic sometimes. In a

perverse way, they are getting their own way. This is what they

want. They have aroused people's anxiety and anger. And here we are.

Top talking about them, right now. You can almost imagine them saying,

this is a result, they are talking about us. There are so many plus

point about the internet, but this darker side is so dark, what can be

done? With every blessing comes a curse. And in practice, this is

very difficult to police. Facebook are saying, we like to strike a

balance between free speech and offensiveness. Somewhere in between.

The number of people who are actually prosecuted, even

identified, are miniscule compared to the number of people who are

trailing. So you think it will go on? I cannot see any stop to it.

Thanks for being with us this evening. Still ahead: The Caribbean

schoolgirls blazing a trail to Birmingham before Jamaica's

athletic superstars head to the China's largest lighting

manufacturer opened a new factory in Birmingham today. The company

behind it believes this region could be ideally placed to make

lights and then sell them across European markets. NVC has so far

created 70 permanent jobs and hopes to increase that to around 250 by

2015. The welcome news on jobs, comes despite a regional business

survey which says the number of manufacturers taking on new workers

fell from 31% to 26% at the end of 2011. And a warning there are

flashing images in Kevin Reide's report on how one firm is bucking

that trend. What do the Beijing Olympics and

this new warehouse in Birmingham have in common? The company that

owns the warehouse was the main lighting supplier for the Games.

Today its founder and owner was here to officially open it. Saying

he chose Birmingham because it is in the centre of England.

TRANSLATION: We are not just aiming to distribute in the UK, we see

here as a stepping stone into Europe as part of global expansion

plans. The company first came to Birmingham in 2009, employing eight

people to import the lighting equipment it makes in China. It now

assembles here and in the future hopes to begin manufacturing.

have got the money to invest in our country. So it they can give the

jobs to our workforce. It is lagging a little bit. If they are

going to bring light into Britain, that is great. The more jobs that

are available, people can get into work. I think it is a good thing,

because we have got work in place so more people can get employed.

All this comes as the West London's -- West Midlands's Chamber of

Commerce fires a broadside at the government, claiming manufacturing

jobs are in decline and blames too much red tape, saying it is

difficult to recruit staff and grow businesses. If you take someone on,

you commit yourself to red tape, the most simple of which is acting

as a tax collector for the government. All of those complex is

multiply and businesses are reluctant to take on people and the

dole queue grows. That is not our experience here at all. We have

grown gradually over the last few years, head count is up to 70

people. The process of recruiting people have not been a problem.

there may be a storm brewing between businesses and the

government here in the West Midlands, but for at least one firm,

the future is looking bright. The economic benefits of the

proposed high speed railway from London to the Midlands have been

halved in figures released by the Government. Latest predictions

suggest the project will bring �1.20 of benefit for every pound

invested. That compares with an original forecast of �2.40. But the

Department for Transport insists the figures don't reflect all the

wider advantages HS2 will bring. A lorry driver who admitting

causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving has walked free

from court with a suspended jail sentence. 47-year-old Karl Austin

from Stoke-on-Trent was killed while taking part in an event for

his cycling club last summer. Today at Derby Crown Court 62 year old

Michael Bray, seen here on the far left, was given a six month jail

sentence suspended for two years. A convicted arsonist who burned

down mobile homes and blackmailed residents into selling their

property has been forced to pay �750,000 in compensation. John

Doherty was jailed for 12 years for terrorising his victims at The Glen

caravan park near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. They've been

compensated under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Campaigners fighting to

save jobs at a Kidderminster-based carpet firm have been gathering

signatures for their petition today. More than 150 posts are at risk at

Brintons Carpets. The company employs 1,700 people worldwide and

says the cuts will allow it to compete in the future. But

campaigners want the industry to stay in the town and are planning

to take their petition to the government.

Protesters claim it makes no sense to close both GP surgeries in the

centre of one of our most historic towns and move them to the

outskirts. A campaign led by comedian Jo Brand's mother has

collected 1,200 signatures. The NHS says the move is an integral part

of plans for a �27 million hospital of plans for a �27 million hospital

of plans for a �27 million hospital and health centre complex and any

delays could kill off the project. Our health correspondent Michele

Paduano reports. With muscle inflammation, and

osteoporosis, 84 year-old Grace is not by far the most elderly and

frail person in this complex. But she moved to the centre of Ludlow

to have immunity -- amenity that the GP on her doorstep. Getting on

and off buses is not easy even for me. It is worse for many people

here, believe me. They are much worse than I am physically. So, yes,

we just cannot lose our surgeries. The campaign group, Save the Ludlow

count surgery, includes a retired GP. It is rubbing salt in the wind

having collected a petition. Joyce had to go to Downing Street with

her daughter, comedienne Jo Brand. Nobody is going to want to trail a

mile and a bit out to the eco Park, and stand in the rain in the winter,

all with small children in a pushchair and have got chest

infections. They are not going to want to. Ludlow is due to get a �27

million new hospital here. It is meaning more hospital services in

south Shropshire. Crucially, both town centre at GP surgeries must

move to the new site. To retain a surgery in the centre of Ludlow

would not just undermined the integrated nature of care on the

hospital site, it would greatly increase costs of the overall

scheme and jeopardise the Ludlow hospital development. Bosses to the

eco Park run every 20 minutes to 30 minutes. It takes about half an

hour on this bus to get up to the eco Park. There is also a dial a

ride service that patients can ask for 24 hours in advance, and there

is a �100,000 coming for a new community bus service that patients

can pay for separately. This is a historic market town is spit and

there seems no room for compromise. -- is split.

Also roads continue in the Premier League but good Aston Villa be a

drive into the relegation nightmare?

We have had the worst of the showers but the best of the

temperatures, it is getting colder by the weekend. It is all coming up

later. After 13 months of violence a

tentative ceasefire's in place tonight in Syria and for now at

least it appears to be holding. But opponents of the regime are still

fleeing the country and there's fresh testimony tonight from

Syrians here in the Midlands who've been aiding refugees. Giles Latcham

has this report. Back home in Birmingham, husband

and wife, both Syrian nationals, we are not naming them because they

fear for their families in Syria. He is an NHS psychologist who spent

the past nine days in refugee camps. In a clinic, he treated dozens of

people haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, traumatised by it

murder and torture. An ad that said that five of her family were killed

a band of her eyes. -- and Lady DEC said. They planted mines around the

image -- village and exploded them, children were picking vines and

they saw that they were slaughtering children like a sheep.

They went to Syria with the charity Hand in Hand For Syria that went to

help the casualties of President Asad's crackdown. I saw a mother,

she said, she did not want anything, she just wanted to remember her son.

He was 16 year-old and she said he died in front of her eyes. Reports

of fierce fighting as the ceasefire junior today, a Midlands-based

activists will stage a vigil tonight in Birmingham, anxious to

rid mind the world that Syria is still a nation in conflict. We are

conscious that people continue to think about what is happening in

Syria, be active in supporting Syrian people. Like standing up

against anybody, you have to stand in solidarity with each other, and

that is what we are trying to do tonight. Harrowing though the

experience was, the doctor and his wife are planning to return next

month. It is their duty, they say, to their homeland and its people.

Time for the sport now. What a dreadful night for a Black Country

side's. A month from now and it'll all be over. But we're still a long

way from learning how many of our teams will survive when the dust

settles on the Premier League relegation battle. Wolves

increasingly look doomed but Aston Villa could still join them in the

Championship. Nick Clitheroe reports.

There's no lack of spirit about this Wolves team but the gulf in

quality was illustrated yet again as Arsenal swept into Molineux.

Once Neil Swarbrick had awarded a penalty and sent Sebastian Bassong

off after just 9 minutes victory for the visitors seemed a formality.

Within a couple of minutes it was two.Theo Walcott doubling the home

fans dismay. And any hope of a revival was completely quashed when

Yossi Benayoun added Arsenal's third. If they get five more

efforts like a got tonight with 11 players on the pitch, we will get

as many as we possibly can. It is a tough time, and things seem to go

against you when you are in the bottom of the league. But the

spirit and the togetherness of the lads showed today, I can only ask

for for the next five games. Wolves may look relegation certainties now

but they're not the only Midlands side in trouble. Wigan's victory

over Manchester United means Aston Villa are only six points above the

bottom three. West Bromwich Albion are realistically, if not

mathematically, safe and it looked that way as they succumbed to

Manchester City's revival of the title race. They were a goal down

inside six minutes but it was the second half when the deluge of

goals arrived. They can look forward to another Premier League

season. Their two biggest Midlands Chris Wright took the 10th and

final wicket to claim for in the innings. Rain-affected play, a

short time ago, Warwickshire were 91-three in reply. The Birmingham

Brummies won the first big Midlands derby of the Elite League season

with a 50 points to 42 victory over Wolverhampton. A dramatic 11th heat

was the outstanding race of the night at the Perry Barr stadium.

Sebastian Ulamek held off Wolverhampton's Freddie Lindgren

round the final bend to open up an eight point lead. It was the

Brummies' first win of the season. A netball team from Jamaica is in

Birmingham this week as part of a sports exchange leading up to the

Olympics. The Jamaican under 16 national squad will play a series

of matches in the city. Later this year the stars of Jamaica's track

and field team will be based in Birmingham ahead of the Games in

July. Nadine Towell reports on our Jamaican Connection in the run up

to the greatest show on earth. Bringing a flavour of the Caribbean

to the council house in Birmingham. For many of these Jamaican

teenagers, this is their first overseas trip. They are here as

part of a pre- Olympics exchange programme, building up to the

arrival of the Jamaican athlete in Birmingham this summer. So after

their formal welcome, the girls were then introduced to the sites

and the shops. It is very wonderful, just the buildings are amazing. The

different look. It is very nice. Festival, the temperature, it is

very cold! As well as the building, they are larger, much larger.

This is what they are really here for, a series of competitive

netball matches between the Jamaicans and a team from

Birmingham, been played every day for the rest of this week. This

time last year, a team from Birmingham went to Jamaica on the

first leg of the exchange. Now they are in no mood for revenge. It was

very competitive last year, they beat us in every match. This year,

we are hoping to change it and beat them tonight. They are amazing,

really good. I am hoping to win today! These girls are the first

Jamaican sports team to come into Birmingham in 2012. They are well

aware they are being followed here by their countrymen later this year,

including Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt.

are seeing them, we hope we have her set the stage for them. We hope

they receive the wonderful hospitality we have received from

Birmingham. On court, the Jamaicans won the first match of the series

by a tight margin. Up the atmosphere here is anything to go

by, the athletes arriving for the Olympics this summer should expect

a hero's welcome. Just give us the timetable of when

our visiting Olympians are arriving. We are only 14 weeks away from the

Jamaican team arriving, July 15th. The following day the US team

arrives. The city of Coventry arena is the first game in football.

Let's go back to cricket, in seven county matches today, 77 wickets

fell. The batsmen did not want to be out

so long! The ball was moving but not as much as it should have done

for the amount of wickets. It is perishing out their! It's 100

years since the sinking of the Titanic. But not many people

realise how much of the liner was built right here in the Midlands.

Well, now a new exhibition's commemorating this region's role.

Bob Hockenhull reports on our links to the Titanic disaster and on the

lasting effect on the lives of people even today.

On route to the spot where the Titanic sank. But not all on board

this week's anniversary crews are descendants of the victims. We

spoke to Sheila from Hall Green in Birmingham, just before she set off.

She has no family connection to the disaster, yet felt compelled to

join the cruise, retracing the chip's fate full journey. She had

been collecting memorabilia connected to the tragedy since her

father described seeing a sinking ship during the Second World War.

He said it was a terrible thing to witness the death of a ship, and it

seemed such an emotive expression it stayed with me. To me, that

Cruise is an opportunity not only to pay respects to the hundreds of

people who died, but also to the ship herself. Sport in the White

Star liner uniform worn by the Titanic crew, Andrew has also let

the 100 year old tragedy have a profound effect on his life. The

amateur historian has spent 30 years uncovering the region's

forgotten contributions to the ship, not just the anchor, famously made

near Dudley, but much more. She is registered in Liverpool, so the

people of Liverpool thinks -- pink she is a love of will ship. She was

built in Belfast so they think it is a Belfast ship. But 70% of the

interiors were made in the Birmingham and Black Country, so

she is a Birmingham and back- country ship. Andrew has set up a

museum, collecting bits of the ship itself. This debris was found by

fishermen in Ireland. Visitors will be able to get up close to this

genuine Titanic sidelight. It was brought up on the seabed in the

1990s, and is now owned by the Coventry-based Titanic Heritage

Trust. More and more is being uncovered about the victims from

the Midlands. One of them, William Higgins, was a former MD at the

engineering company where Andrew's exhibition was being staged. It is

about people, people who's lives were never fulfilled. Generation

it's a who never went forward. That is the most poignant thing about

the whole story. Andrew's research has found it is a story about life

as well as death. Worcester confectioner Henry Morley died in a

tragedy, but Kate Phillips, the 19 year-old shop assistant he was an

open with, survived, and gave birth to their daughter. Three brothers,

Jess of Alfred and John Davies from West Bromwich died, but there are

parents set up a successful business in America with the

compensation money. A country so many other people were destined

never to reach. It is an intriguing story and

continues to be fascinating. I interviewed 80 Turkic -- Titanic

survivor years ago, it was fascinating.

Tomorrow, we will have report on the captain of the Titanic, Edward

Smith. He came from Staffordshire. How much was he to blame for the

disaster? For a lot more, go to the website.

The weather has been causing some interesting outcome in the cricket

Things have been kicking off in Coventry. Earlier on we had report

of thunderstorms there. April has not release Brown any surprises on

us so far. At the beginning of the week we had a westerly which meant

temperatures were reasonable. That will change by the weekend, we will

see northerlys flooding in and washing away those warmer colours.

Mrs Howard looks in summary. Wintery showers come the weekend,

also it will turn more windy and it will be colder. Back to tonight and

this evening, first of all. Showers will be dying away in the next

couple of hours. Looking much clearer and dry across the region,

so it will be cold as well. It could be freezing across rural

parts, we will see a widespread frost in those areas, more so than

on previous night. For tomorrow morning, we will be soaking up the

rays once again. A beautiful sunny start. Then the show was full role

in from the north-west by the afternoon. -- the showers will roll

in on the afternoon. Top temperatures still quite reasonable.

As the northerlys sink in, like winds tomorrow, it will turn colder.

The days are cold, the night will become colder. Tomorrow night,

temperatures could get below freezing. Again, a widespread frost.

For gardeners, it can do watch out for his Saturday night into Sunday.

Or widespread frost and wintry showers as well. Dry ice under. But

A fragile ceasefire in Syria appears to be holding tonight.

And internet abuse for a girl with Down's syndrome, her family say

they are disgusted and appeal for aid to stop.

There have been reports of a big bang similar to a large explosion

across cock -- Coventry, Warwickshire and Northern

Oxfordshire. Houses shook and windows shook, as far as rugby.