15/01/2014 Midlands Today

looks a better day this weekend. That's all from us. It's goodbye

from me. And on Hello and welcome to Midlands Today.

The headlines tonight: The Shropshire family who went to court

and lost over their right to have a summer holiday during school term

time. Because me and my wife both work, it is like a Rolling door. One

is that work, the other is that time. We felt like family time was

needed. Is it fair? We'll be hearing from you. Also tonight: Up for the

Cup ` it's Premier League opposition next time, as non`League

Kidderminster make it through to the FA Cup fourth round. I can't

describe the feeling. It is unbelievable. If you could bottle

it, due would make a fortune. As the row over the TV show Benefits

Street rumbles on, we're live at a public meeting where residents hope

to restore their image. All aboard for a good read. The

primary school that's plumped for a rather unusual library. We try and

encourage outdoor learning. They can come on the boat and read a book.

And today's temperatures may have been above average, but there's

still no escaping the rain. Will we get a break from it soon? Your full

forecast is coming up later. Good evening. Fined nearly ?1,000,

the couple from Telford who to went to court to fight for their right to

take their children on holiday during term time. Stewart Sutherland

took his wife Natasha, their two daughters and son to Rhodes last

October but he hadn't got permission from their schools for the break. He

was fined when they returned to school but refused to pay the local

authority, and today he appeared at Telford Magistrates' Court. Joanne

Writtle reports. Stewart and Natasha Sutherland arrived at Telford

Magistrates' Court to face the consequences of taking their three

children on a weeks holiday during term time. Earlier at home in

Telford, Sutherland said his job with the Ministry of Defence guard

service at Donington had prevented him from taking leave in the school

holidays. I couldn't get the time off over the holiday period. After

five years of being missing out on a summer holiday, I decided I should

take them away from `` for salmon `` family time. It is just as important

as education. The council told us that new, stricter laws that came

into force last September met holidays could only be granted in

term time in exceptional circumstances. This is the couple,

their teenage daughters and their son last September. They said they

booked the holiday a year in advance before the tighter laws came in

play. They appeared in court after twice refusing to pay a fixed

penalty fine. But today, they add omitted failing to ensure their

children attended school regularly, they were ordered to pay in early

?1000 in fines and costs. If the whole country took their time off

over the school holiday, the country would come to a standstill. Able to

put in these laws and policies don't live in the real world. At their

son's infant school, parents had mixed views on term time holidays.

That children's education is important and to take the children

out chewing term isn't right. When you have an office of 30 people time

to get time off, it is awkward. I don't believe children should be

taken out of school or the time but if it is a one off like that, yes, I

think you should be allowed to do that. Sutherland said he had no

regrets. Their first family holiday for five years had been a special

one. Well, this story has caused quite a

debate on Twitter and our Facebook pages. Nearly 19,000 people viewed

the story and we have had hundreds of comments. Thank you for getting

in touch. Carol Everitt Wolliter said "We wouldn't have to take our

children out of school if holiday prices were reasonable during school

holiday time!" Lucy Wilgress told us "Our parents always took us out of

school for holidays and made sure we caught up. It didn't do my education

any harm." But Si Anderson said "Children are at school to learn why

would parents want to disadvantage their kids just for the sake of a

holiday." And we'll have more of your views on this at the end of the

programme. You can send an email to [email protected]. We are also

on Facebook or you can tweet us ` @bbcmtd.

Coming up later in the programme: The day that shocked a city ` two

random stabbings later linked with three murders elsewhere.

Soaring high after a famous victory, Kidderminster Harriers are

celebrating after their FA Cup giant killing last night. They beat League

One Peterborough United 3`2 and will now face Premier League Sunderland

in the next round. Last night's win was worth more than ?67,000 to the

non`League club. And today, Harriers sold the man who scored their

winning goal in a deal that could eventually be worth ?1 million. Ian

Winter reports. Back home in Birmingham, after the

best night of his football career, Jack Byrne, Harriers man of the

match dreamt of playing in games like this during 12 months out

injured with a ruptured Achilles. I can't describe the feeling. It is an

unbelievable being. If you could bottle it, dude could make a

fortune. Two goals in four minutes soon half`time turned this Cup`tie

on its head. Michael Gash put Kidderminster level at 1`1. And then

Byrne himself popped in number two. But they saved the best till last, a

real gem from Joe Lolley to clinch a famous 3`2 victory. The perfect way

for the talented young striker to say farewell before joining

Huddersfield Town this afternoon. It's all been

they hopefully will be on sale tomorrow morning. It has been

frantic for the Harriers chairman. After all it's not every day you

reluctantly sell your star player to a Championship club whilst trying to

agree your ticket allocation for the next round of the Cup. Kidderminster

may be the only non`league club involved in the FA Cup but their

fourth`round tie away to premiere sunburnt hasn't been chosen as a

live televised game. That would have brought in ?144,000. Very

frustrating. It is not down to us. But ?145,000. That is an awful

amount of money. That helps us build for the future and it is maybe money

that we wouldn't always send on `` spend on players but on

infrastructure. But to be involved and it is great. It is great. The

only non`league club to be in the FA Cup fourth round is superb. Day you

dream of beating Sunderland? obviously, it is going to be a great

end `` occasion and we have got to enjoy it. I have ever felt something

like it since we played another game 20 years ago. My heart was really

pounding, I just couldn't believe the atmosphere, it was absolutely

Britain. `` absolutely brilliant. The chairman would love to see

Harriers take more than 10,000 fans up to Sunderland. But first, he's

trying to sign a new player from Argentina to fill the gap left by

the sale of Joe Lolley. It's been quite day in Kidderminster And Ian

Winter is here now, a terrific moment for the new manager and the

whole town. It has been amazing night. Well done

to Birmingham City. Let's go to St Andrews.

It has been amazing night. Well done to Birmingham City. Let's go Chris

Burke scored twice in the last few minutes to send Birmingham City

through with a 3`0 victory over Bristol Rovers. Port Vale's blanc

trip to Devon paid dividends with a 3`2 win at Plymouth and they fought

back despite only having ten men. This is what the rail fans had to

say about the win. Thrilled. Gives us a bit more extra money, doesn't

it? Come on the Vale. Well, those fourth`round ties will be played the

weekend off the next. That is in ten days time.

A public meeting's underway in Birmingham this evening in response

to the controversial TV documentary Benefits Street.

A public meeting's underway in Birmingham this evening in The

Channel four programme features the residents of James Turner Street in

Winson Green. The meeting's been organised by the headmistress of the

local school to promote a more positive image of the area. Holly

Lewis is outside the meeting now. Holly, feelings have been running

high since the programme started, what's the atmosphere like tonight?

Well, I think it has been quite a quiet start to the meeting tonight.

Around 80 B will have turned up. More coming even as we are speaking

now and the meeting is being held in the school in the room behind me

here. The second episode of the programme aired on Monday. It

features the residents of this straight and has been criticised for

demonising people on benefits and for showing an un`representative

view of the people on that street by focusing on the more extreme

characters. Some people asked the headmistress of the school here to

hold this meeting and the school is now run by the charity races UK, the

Christian charity and their director Steve Chalke is with me now. What

are you hoping to get from the meeting? We want to give the

opportunity to the community to speak their mind. It is all pent up,

the anger inside them, I have encountered a lot of it. If they can

get it out, it will be like a pressure valve released. The thick

`` the second thing we have to do that is help the community get

beyond it. The anger needs to come out, the voices need to be heard and

we will give everybody a chance to speak so it is... We will get people

to put down their ideas, how people feel let down and at the end of the

evening, I have good news for people and that is that I have been

negotiating with Channel four all day and they just agreed about our

ago that after the last episode of this programme, there is going to be

a studio debate, a question Time debate and the community will be

represented, that is what I have fought for. Some people might say

you have, from London, what do you know about the problems here in

Birmingham? Not a lot. That is why this is about me fighting all day. I

was interviewed by BBC you feel `` national news all day. And I said

what I want is a voice for these people. I will bring you the latest

this evening. Two men have been arrested in connection with slavery

offences after four men were found in squalid conditions in a

Birmingham house this week. There were arrested on suspicion of human

trafficking. Last Friday, a 54`year`old man was charged with

four counts of knowingly numbing `` holding another person in the

savoury of servitude. `` in slavery or servitude.

Police have been given five more days to question two 21`year`old men

from Handsworth in Birmingham on suspicion of terror offences. The

pair were detained at Heathrow Airport on Monday, after flying in

from Istanbul. They were arrested on suspicion of being involved in

terrorist activities in Syria. Virgin Trains has scrapped plans to

run direct services from Shrewsbury to London from May this year because

the proposed timings were said to be unattractive to passengers and

wouldn't have been economically viable. Direct services to the

capital were lost two years ago when the Wrexham and Shropshire Railway

scrapped its daily services. Virgin says talks are ongoing with Network

Rail to identify better timings for its trains that would attract more

passengers. Plans to reassess all people with learning difficulties

who use Staffordshire County Council care centres are to go ahead. The

authority confirmed today it will close centres in Kidsgrove and

console despite protests by campaigners but the council says it

hopes that 70% of users add the remaining centres will no longer

need help. A court's been hearing details today of what led to two

random stabbings in Hereford. Two people were hurt in separate attacks

in the city last April. The stabbings were then linked to three

murders in Cambridgeshire. Our reporter Jo Black has been at

Cambridge Crown Court for us this morning. So, Jo, what's happened

today? We heard about the killer in this story and how she went on a ten

day murderous spree. She has already admitted murdering three men that

she knew in the Peter Barrett area in March of last year. She stabbed

them in the heart and then dumped their bodies in ditches. `` in the

Peterborough area. We heard she showed one of the bodies to a

teenage girl that she knew. We also heard that after she had killed her

second victim, she was heard singing the Brittany the bash Britney Spears

song, I did it again. The project use and say she had helped dispose

of the bodies and covering her tracks. That is why we have two

defendants in the dock here at the Crown Court. Gary stretch and Leslie

Leighton both deny helping the woman dispose of the bodies. Gary stretch

also denies two counts of attended murder in Hereford and this is

because this story started in Cambridgeshire but ended up in

Hereford because Joanna went with Gary stretch and said find me a

victim, I want to have some fun and she randomly stabbed two men in the

street in Hereford. The cord is excited to hear about those attacks

in Hereford, isn't it? `` the court is expected to hear about. we have

heard how the defendants had stolen one of the dogs from one of the

victims to keep it as a trophy and the two of them then went looking

for dog food. Both just the defendants deny `` denied the

charges. Our top story tonight: The

Shropshire family who went to court and lost over their right to have a

summer holiday during school term time. Your thoughts on this to come.

Rebecca's standing by with the weather. Also ahead: A mum and world

class violinist, now she's recognised for bringing classical

music to young people. And join me to find out why this canal boat is

making its maiden four`year judge to dry land. `` its maiden voyage.

Sikh leaders in the West Midlands are to stage a series of meetings to

appeal for calm in their community. It follows yesterday's revelations

that the 1984 massacre at Amritsar's Golden Temple may have been planned

with British help. This region has the biggest Sikh population in the

UK. Here's Bob Hockenhull. It may be 30 years since hundreds

died in an attack on Amritsar's Golden Temple. But the event is

still raw for Sikhs living in the Midlands. Their feelings were summed

up in Parliament today. This is an open wound which will not heal until

the full truth is told. Documents released under the 30`year rule have

suggested a British SAS officer may have helped plan the raid with the

knowledge of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The revelation

has shocked Sikhs living here who're calling for an inquiry announced by

the Prime Minister to be conducted swiftly to allay any tensions.

Thereafter heightened tensions within the community, mainly because

it has come as a complete surprise. We have lived here for many

generations and we are part of British life so we were not

expecting this news at all. What happened 30 years ago is deep in the

Sikh psyche. A series of meetings are being planned to call for calm.

The MP issued this challenge today. You'll macro why doesn't the Priime

Minister ask Leon Brittan and Lord Geoffrey Howe what they agreed with

Margaret Thatcher and whether it had anything to do with the Westland

helicopter deal at the time. I've you'll macro I fear the honourable

gentleman may have gotten conspiracy fear too far on this one. It is

important that the get the bottom of what happened. Seeks here agree and

say that documents leading to the document be made public. Now,

something to many of us will identify with.

The problem of potholes on our roads is on the rise, according to the

RAC. They say call`outs involving problems such as broken suspension

and damaged wheels were up by two`thirds last year. But it's a

constant struggle for councils to keep up. In the West Midlands they

look after around 20,000 miles of road. Each local authority on

average has to deal with 14,000 potholes. We've been asking you

about your experiences on the roads and Sarah Falkland has more details.

We've had a really strong response on this. Lots of you have been in

touch. Richard Hayes from Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire said he

hit this at 30mph on his motorbike. It burst the tyre and snapped the

crank shaft. Joanna Middlecote from Hereford sent us this picture of her

tyre damage. She says the council actually filled the pothole the day

she hit it because there'd been so many complaints. Amy Marie Finnegan

told us about a great big hole at the Scott Arms junction in Great

Barr. Her dad went over the handle bars of his bike when he

inadvertently cycled into it. We went to try and find it today, I

think they must have filled it in. Some councils are more proactive

than others. Even Roger Caton snapped these two big potholes on

the high street in Pattingham in South Staffordshire. So, And near to

the Baggies football club, we found this. That's a nasty clank you don't

want to hear. That hole is much deeper than it looks. It measured a

good ten or 11 centimetres. Thanks to Phillip Tovey`Jenkins who told us

the whole of Stratford Rd through Shirley is awful. You're not wrong,

Phillip. It's terrible. We found these quite large potholes on the

Robin Hood island but then coming back into the city, we found this

enormous hole, about 13cm deep. Thankfully so near the side of the

road most cars were managing to avoid. Finally, Katie Oliver form

Newcastle under lyme emailed to say there was a big pothole just off the

kerb in Fenton which alsmost tipped her six`month`old daughter out of

her pushchair. She says she told the council but nothing been done about

it. And finally, Mo Razzak from Sutton Coldfield emailed to say he

and his wife have had damage to their cars totalling ?700. They've

been trying to pursue a claim via Birmingham City Council. The whole

thing has dragged on for three years. Some real shock is there.

In football and away from the FA Cup, Walsall moved into the

promotion playoff positions in League One last night. Sam Mantom's

second half goal was enough to give them a 1`0 victory over Oldham at

the Banks's Stadium. But they were grateful to a penalty save in injury

time by goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell to preserve the victory which takes

them up to sixth. Well done to Walsall.

A world class violinist with the City of Birmingham Symphony

Orchestra has been given an award for bringing classical music to a

young audience. Catherine Arlidge says she was inspired by her own

three children which has now resulted in an Unsung Hero award by

the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Association of British

Orchestras. Our arts reporter Satnam Rana has been to meet her.

It's just another musical morning for Catherine Arlidge and her

family. But this is no ordinary mum. She's an award`winning mum who's

been recognised nationally for her work at the City of Birmingham

Symphony Orchestra. It was her young family which inspired Catherine to

create a programme of educational, toddler and family concerts. It is

quite a good idea. And my mum thought of it. So, I am quite proud

of her. You must be very proud of her. Jess, exactly. I couldn't be

prouder of anyone else in the world as my mum. Cath has worked here for

23 years as a sub principal violinist and is now a board member.

She's been instrumental in putting together innovative Clock on to

Safety Concerts bringing education alive through music. I think we are

custodians of our cultural heritage. We have a duty to communicate that.

If nobody knows Mozart exists, it will be a dreadful future. I think

we have a duty and I think it is not `` an enormous privilege for me

personally to open door and make that fantastic connection for

people. Now a recipient of the Salomon Award, she's one of three

musicians who have been celebrated for their contribution. When you

hear a fantastic orchestra late, you think that is bred music but you

don't think about all the individuals in that orchestra and

all the things that happened to get on to the stage. They have trained

their whole lives to play those intranets so well and that is given

but are also particular people within that orchestra who real heat

`` really help make things happen. And Cath has certainly made music

for young ears. This award is also an illustration of how orchestras

need to connection with the next generation of music lovers and who

knows, some of them may be sitting down there performing with

world`class musicians in years to come.

Primary school teachers are always thinking of creative ways to get

children more interested in reading. A school in Staffordshire has

decided that a new library is the way forward, but rather than go for

bricks and mortar, they embarked on a rather different idea. Laura May

McMullan has been finding out more about their special delivery. I am

so excited! I can't wait for it to get here! I wonder how busy `` how

big it is? Their curiosity and excitement is all down to this. A

40`foot canal boat that's making its way to their school. Why? It's going

to be their new library. This is a first for the school vote. I have

never been asked to do one before but as soon as I got the phone call

call `` I would hope `` I was really pleased we could help with this

project. It's one of dozens of boats that have been built at here at

Hixon in Staffordshire. And it's been all hands to the deck. As well

as being their new library, it will be used for community events. The

people here are already learning about canal heritage in the area. We

want to encourage children to read and we want to make it an exciting

experience for them so we wanted to develop a unique space and that is

what we are doing. Dick School secured ?10,000 worth of lottery

funding for the project. Over the coming weeks, staff and parents will

be furnishing the boat and there is the all`important naming ceremony.

Rosie and Jim. Bertie. Swan Lake. Well, the voting process could take

a while. It is hoped this narrow boat will help to expand the

children's learning. So, is it jolly boating weather? I don't think so.

Here is Rebecca. I don't think so, Nick. Temperatures today haven't

done too badly at all. It has been a very mild day. Up to 12 Celsius

across Worcestershire. It is above average for this time of year and

around six degrees higher than reword this time yesterday so it is

much milder. Over the next few days, it is staying rather

unsettled. We will get some sunshine as will wake up tomorrow morning. We

have had a blanket of cloud sitting across us today. Not much in the way

of sunshine there and it is this area of showers that is moving

across us tonight, bringing with it quite a bit of rain. Most places are

starting to see those showers moving through now. Some of those will be

quite heavy and persistent but as we waited through the night, they will

start to band together, we could see ten millimetres of rainfall off

them. At midnight, they will start to push off, the cloud cover is

helping temperatures, not falling too low, around four or five

Celsius, the overnight low. It won't be a frosty start to Thursday, it

will be a damp one. More showers tomorrow. Some of them could be

persistent and heavy. We will get some breaks in the cloud, we will

see the sun at times so it would be a complete wash`out tomorrow but

there will be hell, thunder and blustery conditions around the

showers. `` they will be hailed. Then, more weight to come through

tomorrow night. We keep these bands of showers rattling through the

region. The cloud cover does help a little bit but it is still going to

be a mixture of wind and rain as we make our way through tomorrow night.

Again, those temperatures would fall too far but with all this rain on

the saturated ground, it is continuing to exacerbate the

problem. No warnings out there but it is worth keeping an eye on it. As

we work our way towards the end of the week, we continue to stay

unsettled. Tonight's headlines from the BBC:

Child abuse to order ` the British men who give online instructions

about what they want done to girls in the Philippines The Prime

Minister says he'll veto any proposal by The Royal Bank of

Scotland to increase pay and bonuses.

And a Shropshire couple are fined for taking their children on holiday

during term time and refusing to pay a fixed penalty. Gary asked, what

about when teachers go on strike, is this not double standards? Jenny

Harris said that as a teacher, she believes children should not be

taken out at term times. Samantha Road, holiday companies ripping you

off. The price of holidays is double in school holidays, it is not fair

when financially it is hard for families anywhere. Thank you for

your comments. I will be back at 10pm with the latest from the public

meeting called over the Benefit Hidden beneath your feet

are magical worlds, home to extraordinary

little creatures. Imagine being able to experience

this wonderland through their eyes. see the incredible adventures

of these miniature heroes