07/03/2014 Midlands Today

away. That's all from the BBC News at Six. On BBC One, we now join the

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: An elderly

woman dies and ten others are infected by a new strain of

drug`resistant superbug. Thhs is a very serious problem, but lhke

global warming. It's creeping up on us. We'll be speaking live to our

health correspondent of the potential dangers. Also tonhght An

investigation's launched into a suspected plot by Muslim

fundamentalists to exert influence in Birmingham schools. I don't think

the nature of the written in bold is the important matter, we welcome all

sorts of faiths to run our schools. The murder of Daniel Pelka triggers

calls for a national debate on the future of our child protecthon

services. Up for sale ` a Staffordshire zoo faces collapse

putting hundreds of animals and birds under threat.

And with sunny spells and temperatures in the teens, ht

certainly feels like spring but will it last all weekend? I'll h`ve the

full forecast later on. Good evening. A BBC investigation

has revealed that a hospital superbug that's resistant to most

antibiotics has been found `t three locations in the West Midlands. One

elderly woman infected with the bug KPC ` has died in Wolverhampton Ten

others were found to be carriers in Stoke`on`Trent and tonight ht's

emerged that there are four more cases in Birmingham. Experts say KPC

blood infections are extremdly rare, but are very difficult to treat Our

Health Correspondent Micheld Paduano has the details. This robot at

Birmingham University processes thousands of chemicals lookhng for

new ways to fight bacteria, but it's racing against time. Klebsidlla

pneumoniae carbapenemase, or KPC ` resistant to the last major group of

antibiotics has arrived. Schentists say more research is needed. If we

are really serious across the world about tackling this problem, we had

to start viewing this in thd same way as the high income countries

with the AIDS crisis in the 199 s. It'll take that sort of levdl of

global policymakers to drivd this forward to tackle this propdrly So

far ten patients have been identified as carriers of KPC in

stoke on trent, two had infdctions but noone died. In Wolverhalpton

they have been to KPC infections, one later died, but her KPC were

still susceptible to some antibiotics. So far, Wolverhampton

has been lucky, it has been said. KPC is so difficult to treat because

it has an enzyme which sits in an outer layer. As antibiotics try to

get into the cell the enzymd neutralises them. This immunity is

now moving into other bacteria. Professor Peter Hawkey is ctrrently

investigating multi drug resistance across England and needs salples

from Birmingham and Shropshhre. The problem with KPC is that it destroys

the antibiotic, we are very restricted in our choice of

antibiotics. We have one or two unsatisfactory ones we have to use.

Scientists believe its on the increase and we must be vighlant. In

Italy, nearly half of all p`tients infected with KPC are now dxing

Michele joins me now from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

What's the significance of the four new cases? It's difficult to say. It

could just be a blip but I looked at the Freedom of information request

for the last two years and they haven't been any cases, so ht's a

suggestion that this partictlar organism is beginning to spread

What we know about those cases is that there are four people who are

carriers and only one infection but that patient die. This organism is

so clever because it lives hn the gut of human beings and you can

carry it without any problels until you get some sort of blood

poisoning. What we are beginning to see is its ability to jump species

into things like E. Coli. How serious is this? In Manchester,

where the problem has startdd it has become endemic. They have h`d 1

deaths, a death rate of arotnd 2%. In Italy, it's the biggest possible

way of getting blood poisonhng, up 4% of the blood poisoning is they

have. They reckon between 40 and 50% of patients who get it are dying.

Then there are cancer patients who are immunocompromised and in Italy

they are seeing 70 to 80% of those patients dying, which is quhte

serious. The issue is in hospital now, in Manchester and posshbly in

this area in the future, yot will have a situation whereby a patient

is going for a bowel operathon and you have to make a decision as to

whether it is safe to give them the operation or not, because they could

become infected by the organism The same thing occurs with cancdr

patients. Not to scare you too much, we have been good so far at reducing

the way in which this organhsm travels. Coming up later in the

programme: A battle for the Blues ` with former chairman Carson Yeung

jailed for six years for money laundering ` where do they go from

here? Birmingham City Council is

investigating allegations that some head teachers in the city wdre

forced out of their jobs as part of an attempt to make the city's

schools adhere to more Islalic principles. A leaked letter

detailing the plan ` known `s "Operation Trojan Horse" ` claims up

to four schools have alreadx been affected. I'm joined by BBC WM's

political reporter Kathryn Stanczyszyn. What more can xou tell

us? I have seen a copy of this letter that states that four schools

have already been taken over. All four have seen recent senior

leadership changes, sometimds under controversial circumstances. The

letter states that parents can be in courage to turn against senhor

leadership by being told th`t their children have been corrupted by

being taught sex education, talked about homosexuality, even bding made

to pray Christian prayers. The idea being that they turn against the

leadership and it is easy to put someone in with more sympathetic

views. What has direction bden? Birmingham City cancel are

investigating. `` council. We know that education bosses met whth

headteachers yesterday. This afternoon, Birmingham Hodge Hill MP

Liam Byrne met with the education secretary, and afterwards hd said

that our community will simply not tolerate any nonsense that

interferes with first`class teaching of our children. What is thd

reaction been from the teachers union? We have spoken to ond general

secretary. I don't think thd nature of the religion involved is the

important matter, we welcomd all sorts of faiths to run our schools,

that is not the question, it is whether we are using illegitimate

and transparent tactics for the governance of schools and wd would

apply that to whatever group of people were looking to get hnvolved

in governance. The council hs investigating, but not West Midlands

Police have told me they have looked at the contents of this letter and

it is not a criminal matter. Police are searching for a

49`year`old man who's failed to answer bail ` after being arrested

in connection with the disappearance of a Coventry teenager. 18`xear`old

Nicola Payne went missing in the city more than 20 years ago. Earlier

this week, police working on the case conducted a search at Coombe

Abbey Country Park. The man was arrested in December on suspicion of

abduction and murder. A man has been arrested on suspicion

of murder after the body of a woman was found in Wolverhampton.

29`year`old Amandeep Kaur Hothi was discovered at the city's Brhtannia

Hotel yesterday morning. A 41`year`old man is now being

questioned in connection with her death.

A memorial service was held at Birmingham Cathedral today hn memory

of Christina Edkins. The 16`year`old died a year ago after she w`s

stabbed on a bus on her way to school. Her family say desphte the

anniversary being a sad occ`sion they wanted to remember and

celebrate her life. A 23`ye`r`old man has since been found guhlty of

her manslaughter and sent to a secure mental health unit.

The Leader of Coventry City Council is calling for a national ddbate on

the future of child protecthon services. Ann Lucas made thd

comments during a special ddbate ` on how services in the city need to

improve following the murder of 4`year`old Daniel Pelka. Shd claims

child protection teams across the UK are at 'crisis point' ` dealing with

increasing workloads against a back drop of budget cuts. Kevin Reide

reports. The debate, broadc`st this morning, began with a reminder of

some of the harrowing events surrounding Daniel's death. Are you

right by him at the moment? Senior representatives from the cotncil,

police and others listened hntently. He was starved, beaten on a regular

basis. Magdalena Luczak and step father Mariusz Krezolek werd

subsequently jailed for Danhel's murder. A serious case revidw found

many failings and said the police, schools and social workers needed to

work more closer. `` more closely. It was one of 15 recommendations. We

have completed seven of thel and of the other eight, they are all well

underway. We are determined as far as we can that this won't h`ppen

again. Can I guarantee it? No. The review also criticised West Midlands

Police for not doing enough to help Daniel, but last night they revealed

front line officers are being trained to be more proactivd, and

already more children are bding taken in if abuse is suspected.

There was nearly a third increase in the use of emergency police powers

to seize that child, take them away from the home, put them with our

colleagues in social care to look after them overnight. But the knock

on effect is more strain on cash strapped Social Services ` two years

ago they were dealing with just over 3,000 child referrals, by the end of

last year that figure had gone up by fifty per cent to more than 4,5 0.

There are social services departments who are at crishs point,

and if I could wish away all the problems with money, I would do it.

But it's absolutely an enorlous crisis. Notable absences were NHS

representatives, in spite of requests they declined to t`ke part.

Joining me from our Coventrx studio is Josephine Khuwali, who's a

lecturer in social work at Coventry University. Thank you for joining

us. Ann Lucas says the systdm is at crisis point ` would you agree? In

many centres, yes I would. She spoke last night of the enormous pressure

on social workers, the masshve increase in referrals, the

increasingly complex nature of society and the kind of isstes

social workers are expected to deal with. You were once a senior service

manager in London, what pressures facing social workers? Therd are

pressures we are familiar whth in terms of increasing demand,

insufficient social workers, and insufficient resources to ddal with

complex needs that children are presenting. But I also think that

there are pressures of rapidly changing society, we not only

dealing with the more commonly understood family `based abtse but

we also now having to deal with challenging issues such as

trafficking, grooming, Internet abuse, gang rape. A whole array of

issues which is a society, we have not begun to properly understand or

grapple with all resource. Do we need more money to recruit lore

social workers? I don't think that money alone is an answer. Btt

clearly, we do need more social workers. We cannot have a shtuation

that Ann Lucas spoke of, whdre caseload and referrals keep going up

and up and individual social workers are expected to bear the prdssure of

that increase in numbers. If we want a first`rate child protection

services, we need not only to invest in social workers, but also to

invest in the kind of services that will support families in tiles of

need and early intervention services which will hopefully divert many of

the children who may go on to suffer neglect or abuse.

A senior Midlands MP is calling for urgent action to revive our

embattled high streets. Adrhan Bailey, who chairs the Commons

Business Select Committee, says soaring business rates are "the

biggest single challenge" f`cing retailers. He told the BBC lore

shops would go out of busindss unless the Government takes decisive

action. There should be a root and branch assessment done of where the

burden is falling and if it could be spread more equitably, betwden the

multiple retailer and the bricks and mortar retailer or the online

retailer. And you can see more from that debate plus a look at plans by

the National Health Action Party to field a candidate in Stafford at the

next General Election in thd Sunday Politics ` that's from 11 o'clock on

Sunday morning with Patrick Burns. Our top story tonight: An ottbreak

of a new drug resistent supdrbug kills one elderly woman while

infecting ten others. Your detailed weather forec`st to

come shortly from Rebecca ` also in tonight's programme: The story of

Daisy`Mae Little ` born 15 weeks premature and already causing a stir

on social media. And Pepe under pressure ` Albion's

manager still looking for hhs first win after six Games in charge. Dan

Pallett is here now with thd sport now and Dan we start with ndws of

Carson Yeung being sentenced to six years in jail for money laundering.

It has dominated the week. The former Birmingham City chairman

Carson Yeung has been jailed for six years by a court in Hong Kong for

money laundering. The former hairdresser turned tycoon w`s

convicted on Monday of laundering more than ?55 million. Jon Brain

reports. Carson Yeung, being driven away from a Hong Kong courts to

begin his jail sentence. Thd final humiliation for the former

hairdresser turned millionahre businessman, turned English football

club owner. It was all diffdrent three years ago as he celebrated

Birmingham City's League Cup victory at Wembley will stop it seeled his

takeover of the club was delivering on the promise of glory and

financial investment. The rdality became relegation, cost`cutting and

disillusionment. We were on the crest of a wave at the time, it was

all, fantastic! But yeah, b`ck down to earth very quickly, and was

extremely disappointing and frustrating to be a supportdr.

Carson Yeung isn't the first foreign owners are being seduced by the

potential which is on offer in English football, but his f`ll from

grace has been dramatic. Birmingham City insists his conviction won t

have any impact on the runnhng of the club. But not everyone hs

convinced. Carson Yeung stepped down last month but three of the four

remaining directors are his relatives, including his son, seen

here on the right. He is sthll a major shareholder and owns 08% of

the stock now. So he's going to have an influence irrespective of the

fact that he has resigned them or his positions. The football league

says Birmingham City fully complies with its ownership regulations.

Supporters just hope the cltb has moved on from the man who promised

so much. And I understand they have been further developments today

Yes, a Chinese media companx who hope to buy 12% of the cup, that it

has failed, we have all suffered from the Premier League, thdy said

they have stepped up their fit and proper person test since Carson

Yeung took charge of Birmingham City in 2009, it is having wider

revocations. And problems of a different kind for Pepe Mel and West

Bromwich Albion. The Baggies haven't won since Mel took charge shx Games

ago. And tomorrow they host Manchester United. He was born in

Manchester and fell in love with West Brom and he was only 14. Tony

Brown is an Albion legend. 218 goals in 17 years with the club and yet he

won only one England cap. These days he's a popular voice on fred radio

and when the Baggies beat United at Old Trafford in September, he was

delighted. But now? I am nervous, because I am just a fan now, I want

the team to win. When you sde them in the position they are, it's a

nervous time. Pepe Mel may be feeling the same way. Because today,

English wasn't on the menu. I prefer to speak Spanish today. Tricky

questions about Nicolas Anelka, his chemistry with the players `nd

speculation over his future after only six Games. Concession lacro I

understand your job and I know what mine is. `` TRANSLATION:. Mhne is

winning Games, the players `re the important ones for the coach. I feel

a little sorry for him, he has a lot on his plate. All he needs hs a win.

We have a lot of draws. The position would have been different. @lbion

fans must be wondering two things, how much would Brown be worth today

in the crater transfer markdt, and how confident is Pepe Mel of earning

his first victory? TRANSLATHON: We are totally convinced we can win the

game tomorrow. With that in mind, he has told as players to remelber

exactly how they managed to beat United six months ago. Here's hoping

they beat the double against Sir Matt Busby's old club, his boyhood

heroes. The Winter Paralymphcs got underway in Sochi this afternoon

with Britain's small team of 15 looking to build on the success of

the Winter Olympics. Among them is seated`skier Anna Turney from

Warwick who's competing in her second Winter Paralympics. @t 3 ,

she's the oldest member of the British Team. People are now viewing

Paralympics as athletes. I train between three and seven hours a

day, six days a week. It's ` full`time job. At times, I do worry

a bit but yeah, it's great fun. And Anna is straight into action on the

opening day tomorrow in the women's downhill. Yes, good luck to her A

Staffordshire Zoo has been put up for sale after going into

administration this week. Blackbrook Zoo, near Leek, is on the m`rket

with its collection of 200 species of animals and birds. Falling

visitor numbers are being blamed for the collapse of the business. Giles

Latcham reports. Filipino warty pigs on the brink of

extinction. Japanese cranes, almost as rare but alive and flourhshing on

the Staffordshire moorlands. Just two of the attractions that have

been drawing crowds to Blackbrook Zoo for nearly 25 years but their

future and that of the seven remaining staff here is now in grave

doubt. It would be a shame to see it go because there aren't manx zoos in

Staffordshire. When people do come, they love the place. You max have

passed it on the way to altdr and towers. Two years ago, 55,000

visitors came but numbers h`ve swindled scents and the zoo is now

in administration, in urgent need of a buyer. We are trying to m`intain

the park, keep it open and get somebody new in who is prep`red to

invest. It's a fantastic facility. It is desperately needed. This is

one of the few places in thd Midlands where you can meet a

meerkat, but the clock is sticking to these animals and all thd animals

here. The admin is only havd the money to run the place for two more

months. Sarah and partner qtit the jobs to set up a reptile hotse. They

only opened two weeks ago. We have people asking us, can we cole and

see you? We have children whth special needs, it would be ` shame

to lose it all. We have givdn up everything to come here and help

them. Whatever the problems of Blackbrook Zoo, the local atthority

believes it can succeed. In Staffordshire, tourism has grown by

30% in the last two years. 20,0 0 extra jobs have been created and we

want that to continue, and we want this to be part of the offer. At one

point, staff or paying for feed themselves. Wanted, someone who

shares their passion for anhmals with ?350,000 to spare.

A Black Country father's account of his baby daughter's fight for life

is proving to be a big hit on social media. Daisy`Mae Little was born 15

weeks premature and weighing less than two pounds. Now her story has

attracted over 10,000 followers on Facebook from all over the world.

Bob Hockenhull has been talking to her family.

Daisy`Mae Little wasn't due to arrive in the world until ndxt

Thursday. But she's been here for 97 days already. After the 20 week

scan, I thought, that's it now, we have to wait until March. D`isy`Mae

was just 25 weeks when she was born and had just a 46 per cent chance of

survival. Parents Jen and W`yne from Pensnett near Dudley are sthll

waiting for the day when thdir daughter will be well enough to come

home. It's heartbreaking, bdcause every night, we have to leave her.

She's becoming more like a baby now. She cries, she doesn't like being

left now. But even though she is still in hospital, little D`isy`Mae

has already made a big imprdssion on the world. Dad Wayne started a

journal about her progress on Facebook and it has become `n

international hit. At the l`st count, we have something like 1 ,500

or so followers from Australia, Sweden, North America. France..

Everywhere. They sent us gifts as well, it has been marvellous, the

power of kindness in people 's hearts. Thanks to the hard work of

staff at the specialist neonatal unit here in Wolverhampton,

Daisy`Mae's White has incre`sed to four pounds three. She has done very

well, I remember clearly shd was a very sick little baby, she couldn't

breathe by herself so we have to support with a ventilator. We had to

give her nutrition intravenously. We had to support her blood prdssure

and manage infection. The Journal has inspired some followers to fund

raise. It's also being used as a training tool for midwives. The

update their most looking forward to writing is news that Daisy`Lae is

finally home in her new nursery Well onto the weather now ` and I

couldn't help but notice thd sun today. How's it looking for the

weekend? It was a beautiful day todax, it was

reflected in our temperaturds. Not too bad at all. And there is more to

come as we head through the weekend, or because we have this are` of

milder air, starting to takd control as we had through the weekend. More

pleasant conditions on the way. Overnight, rather calm quiet end of

the day. Initially, temperatures are going to drop it and we see the

cloud filling in from the south as we had through the early hotrs of

tomorrow morning. We could get some fog as well. Temperatures r`nging

between four and seven Celshus, so quite mild night but dull start to

tomorrow. It will improve, though. That cloud, lingering through the

morning, we will have some drizzle and anywhere could cease and spits

and spots of rain through the morning. Then it will clear away and

we get some fresh air from the continent so it will feel more

pleasant. It is going to be windier than it has been, those wins our

comment from a southerly direction so they are much milder. `` those

wins are coming. As we head through Saturday night, continued to keep

the clear skies but the winds are. `` are up. Some cloud starthng to

fill in the western part but there isn't much change through Stnday,

another pleasant day. A little more cloud in western parts but

elsewhere, some good spells of sunshine, with temperatures getting

up to 15 Celsius so climbing all the time, and next week, high pressure

is in charge. It doesn't me`n we will get wall`to`wall sunshhne, we

will see some cloud but it's going to be pleasant and managed to stay

dry and settled as we head hnto next week. All in all, looking bright and

sunny. Tonight's headlines from thd BBC:

The head of the Metropolitan police describes the damning criticism over

Stephen Lawrence as devastating And an elderly woman dies and tdn others

are infected by a new strain of drug resistent superbug to hit the West

Midlands. That was the Midl`nds Today. Have a great evening.