24/04/2014 Midlands Today

You can Hello and welcome to serious

You can Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlinds

tonight: Targeting wives and mothers to help stop young Muslims

travelling to fight with Syrian rebels. Also tonight: He's `lready

smashed through the ?1 millhon fundraising barrier. 24 hours later

Stephen is closing in on ?2 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust with

help from celebrities. This guy is 19 and he's not bitter but he could

be and he would have every right to be. There's something inspiring

about him. We'll be speaking live to Dr Raj

Mattu, the NHS whistle`blowdr, about his 13`year fight to clear his name

and hopes for the future. Why plastic is not so fantastic in

Herefordshire ` objections to the growing number of polytunnels.

Well, nothing affecting the view of this landscape at Moccas in

Herefordshire this morning ` a misty field looking resplendent at

sunrise. A thing of natural beauty. Can we hope for more this wdekend?

Find out later. Good evening. The West Midl`nds top

counter terrorism police officer is urging wives and mothers of young

Muslims to convince them to stay at home and NOT join Syrian rebels

Hundreds of British Muslims are thought to have joined rebel groups

` some with links to terrorhsm. The new head of the West Midlands

Counter Terrorism Unit todax warned that anyone fighting in Syrha faces

arrest on their return. Gilds Latcham reports.

The battle for Syria. It is brutal and extreme and the worry for the UK

authorities is that the extremism it breeds will reach as here in the

form of young British Muslils radicalised `` radicalised. The new

head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit was reaching out to

mothers, wives and girlfriends and through them, young Muslim len

tempted to travel to Syria. We already have evidence of worried

members of the family picking up the phone to the police saying their

child has gone to Syria, can you help, `` can you help? If wd can

generate that energy in a dhfferent way we have achieved somethhng.

Serious slide into civil war started three years ago and estimatd that

the death toll begin at 100,000 President Assad remains in power.

The opposition are determindd but divided, ranging from rains ``

mainstream groups to others said to have links with terrorism, such as

Al`Qaeda. This is a conflict no one expects to end any time soon.

British MPs debated whether to bomb forces loyal to President Assad and

some say that sent a mixed lessage. Some Muslims going out therd might

think, we're not doing anything wrong because we are on the same

side as the British governmdnt. The British government have failed to

explain this confusion so they need to do more. This man who appealed

for calm when his son was khlled in via three years ago went to Syria to

support a charity last May. A fellow fundraiser says worries abott to

hard disk mustn't eclipse the plight of refugees. I have seen thd focus

`` suffering first`hand `` to hardests. Let us alleviate the

suffering their as well. Now the battle is under way for the hearts

and minds of young Britons. Coming up: Making some moves. How

this top dance festival is putting local amateurs alongside

professionals. On last night's programme wd brought

you the news that a Staffordshire teenager with incurable cancer had

broken his ?1 million fundr`ising target. In less than 24 hours,

that's grown to more than 1.5 million. 19`year`old Stephen Sutton

from Burntwood tweeted what seemed to be a goodbye message and photo

from hospital earlier this week Our reporter, Cath Mackie, has been

following the story. She johns us now from Chase Town football club,

near to Stephen's home, where they've been helping to raise money.

Cath, that fundraising figure just keeps rising, doesn't it?

Mary, it is extraordinary. H spoke to a friend of Stephen 's f`mily two

days ago and he had raised ?600 000. He was sick and hoping to rdach the

target. 48 air was later it has been blown out of the water. `` 48 hours

later. Now he has raised ?1.9 million. His story featured a lot

yesterday on the national ndws when he posted a message which sdemed to

be a good buy. Thankfully, he posted this today:

And this has really inspired people to give. When I got onto his website

and saw some of the things he was saying, I am angry that I mhght die

at 90... This guy is 19 and he's not bitter or angry. He could bd and he

would have every right to bd. There's something inspiring about

him. The reason I am here is that he is a local lad and it was hdre he

began his fundraising efforts. John, I think you have an announcdment you

would like to make, haven't you That's right. This weekend, or the

programme sales will be dedhcated to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Also, on

May the 4th, we will be plaxing Steve's team down here and we will

put all the funds from that to the Teenage Cancer Trust. And you went

to school with Stephen. What do you make of what he has achieved.

Absolutely amazing. And you are planning fundraising as well? Yes,

the world record for a tanddm skydive. John, what worked `` what

was it about Stephen that m`de you say, yes, we will fundraiser? Beth.

Us involved with Stephen. You just have to meet him and you will do

anything. His face will be on the programme this Saturday. It will and

all the proceeds will go to Teenage Cancer Trust will stop along with

all the players, we will we`r the T`shirt is for Stephen so gdt

donating. Thank you very much. He is in high spirits today and hd fields

better. He really has inspired people. The

Teenage Cancer Fund say thex have never seen anything like it. I can

give you the up`to`the`minute figure for the amount Stephen has raised.

It stands at 1,000,940. The engineering firm Sandvik is

closing its manufacturing plant near Wolverhampton with the potential

loss of 143 jobs. The company says it has too much capacity across

Europe and needs to cut production costs in the UK. The plant `t

Featherstone is expected to close at the end of the year. Talks between

management and unions are under way. Network Rail has been accusdd of

cutting corners on the six hundred million pound re`development of

Birmingham's New Street Station Original plans would have sden the

old Navigation Street Bridgd clad in stainless steel, but it will now be

virtually untouched. Network Rail says the changes will help speed up

construction and avoid railway closures.

The funeral has taken place this afternoon of Dr Mohammed Naseem the

chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, who died on Tuesday at the

age of 90. The leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore was

among those paying tribute. Funeral prayers were said at the mosque

before Dr Mohammed was laid to rest at Handsworth Cemetery.

The head of the NHS has agrded to meet a whistle`blower who spent 12

years fighting for his caredr after telling Midlands Today about two

deaths in overcrowded hospital bays. Last week, Dr Raj Mattu won a

landmark employment tribunal which concluded his dismissal was unfair.

Our health correspondent, Mhchele Paduano, has been looking b`ck at

the history of the case. Walsgrave Hospital was overcrowding

wards in 2001, but management insisted lives weren't jeop`rdised.

Dr Mattu was shocked. Twelvd times he had told management about his

patient dying. Finally, he blew the whistle on Midlands Today. There was

no oxygen available. We did not have suction to suck out the airwaves. An

employment tribunal said th`t was the start of his troubles. Lidlands

Today reported in 2006 about a campaign to oust him. Securhty was

asked to watch him. We were asked to monitor his comings and goings in

the building. I questioned one former chief executive about a

second patient death in overcrowded base. Although... . Although Dr Raj

Mattu, got back to work bridfly he was accused ` among other things `

of talking to Midlands Todax. He hadn't, but his health suffdred In

2011, He was too ill to attdnd his disciplinary hearing and was sacked.

So, what's the final bill to the taxpayer? Legal costs for the first

inquiry were over ?1 million. In 2011, that had gone up to ?3.7

million. Mattu's lawyers cl`im the cost of paying others to do his work

was ?3 million alone. With three High Court hearings and the longest

tribunal in Birmingham history, some newspapers have claimed the whole

affair has cost the NHS ?10 million. And through no fault of his own Dr

Mattu's expertise has been lost his health has deteriorated and he'll

never work again. And Dr Mattu joins me now. Do you

believe the issues which led to you blowing the whistle have bedn

addressed and resolved? Unfortunately not. One of mx

concerns about this whole hhstory is that I whistle blew because I was

concerned patients were placed in danger and were dying. The

management response was to silence me as quickly as they could and then

to get a dossier of allegathons against me to try and as to me. In

the middle of all this the patients seem to have been forgotten. Today

`` to date, myself and senior nurses present at the death of my patients

have never been questioned. The trust has conducted an audit which

wasn't an investigation, in my view. At this moment in time, the

relatives of those who died have no idea of the circumstances under

which their loved ones passdd away or that they may have had an

avoidable death. Do you regret speaking out? I don't regret

speaking out but I couldn't encourage anyone else to consider

whistle`blowing with the prdsent arrangements. Following the

tribunal, Coventry and Warwhckshire NHS Trust said they would continue

to support all of their staff to raise issues of concern. Yot don't

believe that? I never witnessed that from them. Right now I am a victim

of their lack of support for whistle`blowers. Right up to the

tribunal they denied I was ` whistle`blower so I am pleased the

tribunal came to the conclusion I am a whistle`blower and have stffered

detrimentally and that my dhsmissal was inextricably linked to the fact

that I am a whistle`blower. It is quite astonishing that, instead of

apologising and learning from this, that they are still in deni`l. You

have asked to speak with thd new chief executive of the NHS `nd he

has agreed to meet with you? Yes, there is a meeting planned shortly

and I am hopeful that will take place sooner rather than later. What

effect has this had on you `nd your family? It has had a devast`ting

affect on my career to the point that it has destroyed my career as a

doctor and researcher. It h`s had a damaging effect on my personal life.

My wife and I have been forced to make the decision not to st`rt a

family with this looming ovdr us. The awful effect on my health ` I

have been in a night of hospital on a couple of occasions with `

life`threatening deteriorathon of my health.

Thank you. Our top story: Targeting wives and

mothers to help stop young Luslims travelling to help fight with Syrian

rebels. Your detailed weathdr forecast to come shortly. Also:

We've made mistakes admit Shrewsbury Town, as the club faces reldgation

to League Two. It will be very difficult btt we

have to keep going. We owe that to the club and the supporters.

Why these slippery customers are helping keep our longest river in

peak condition. If you have a story you think we

should be covering, we would like to hear from you.

If you're in the countrysidd at this time of year, it's likely you'll see

fields covered by polytunnels. Increasingly, growers see them as a

vital way to stay competitive. In Herefordshire, planning applications

have quadrupled in a year. Now one farmer is fighting for the right to

use polytunnels in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Objectors insist they spoil the landscape. Here's Bob Hockenhull.

A sea of plastic amid the green fields of the Wye Valley. Some local

residents say what's the pohnt of calling this an Area of Outstanding

Natural Beauty if this is allowed to happen. It is just a case of more

polytunnels going up day after day. All you can see is the area

disappearing. It is approaching an industrial landscape. Neil Cockburn

is the farmer. At Pennoxstone Court in Kings Caple, he grows more than

100 acres of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for

supermarkets. Next month, at a public inquiry, he'll appeal against

an enforcement notice from Herefordshire Council demanding that

he removes most of the polytunnels. If the inspector comes down against

us than the business will cdase 100 jobs will be lost. I apprechate some

people don't like the look of them and we try and screen them wherever

possible and we move them around. A lot of people though are perfectly

comfortable and want to havd British fruit grown in England are not have

it flown in from abroad. Thd Council for the Protection of Rural England

calls Mr Cockburn "a plastic baron". It estimates he and other f`rmers

are responsible for covering nearly 2,000 acres of Herefordshird with

polytunnels. In this one poly tunnel, there are 10,000 punnets

worth of strawberries ready to pick in two weeks. In the shops, they

will fetch ?20,000. But if there was no cover, the farmer says hd would

not be able to grow the fruht at all on a commercial basis. Before the

1980s, the farm here survivdd as a pick your own. But Neil Cockburn

says 21st century economics dictate that's no longer possible.

One of Europe's biggest dance events got underway in Birmingham today. It

will include outdoor perforlances and several new productions. It is a

show which has given local dancers and opportunity to perform `longside

top professionals. These dancers come from right across

the West Midlands, but some of them have never danced alongside

professionals. Until now. And this is what they are working

towards. Performing with thd creme de la creme in Mathew Bournd's

adaptation of Lord of the Flies which comes to the Birmingh`m

Hippodrome next month. I watched the film which I continuously w`tched

and enjoyed. When I came to the workshops it was the same. Ht was

great. It is an amazing expdrience to be part of the show. I dhdn't

think I was such a dancer to start off with. I had to do it at college.

Seeing this and knowing that I can it has opened a lot of things for me

and I am happy I am doing it. It's all part of the Internation`l Dance

Festival Birmingham. Over the next four weeks, people across the city

can sampled various `` various dance forms from hip`hop... To hakka.

Tap... And T. `` T. The festival opens tonight with

three works from the Birmingham Royal Ballet. One of which sees the

return of former soloist now turned choreographer Aleander Whitley. The

real privilege for me to be associated with Birmingham Royal

Ballet and the other artists. Great contemporary choreographers I have

huge admiration for so to bd alongside them is a great privilege

for me. Really nice to kick it off. This is the fourth Internathonal

Dance Festival. Since 2008, thousands have turned twinkdltoes `

sampling all forms of dance. You can find out more about the

festival by following the lhnks on our Facebook page.

Only a near miraculous set of results can help Shrewsbury Town

avoid relegation to League Two this weekend. It will come at a financial

cost as well with their revdnue likely to drop by around a lillion

pounds. The club have admitted making terrible mistakes thhs

season. Now they've promised to repair the damage by putting their

faith in home`grown talent. They were training in the spring

sunshine this morning, but there is a dark cloud hanging over this club.

Even if these players can ptll off an unlikely win against Petdrborough

on Saturday, they will prob`bly still dropped to the bottom division

of the football league. With two games to go, they are six points

below the safety line. They have to do it for themselves. The board

apologised to the fans this week, admitting they borrowed to heavily

from players from other teals and they have promised a complete

review. Shrewsbury have used an astonishing 20 players on loan from

other clubs and it hasn't gone down well with the bands. It has carried

on this season. You just don't know who will be on the side each week.

We need a dedicated team. I thought we were a big enough club to stay

up. I thought we would posshbly go for the championship this ydar. Part

of the solution will be to find local talent. But going down that

path will require patience, which is often in short supply in football.

You can pay loads of money `nd by senior players. That doesn't build

for continuity sometimes. It is like boom or bust and the club doesn t

want to be in that situation. For now, Jackson and his players are

still focusing on the most tnlikely of great escapes.

They are not everyone's favourite but our rivers need them. Thousands

of baby eels have been rele`sed into the River Severn today to hdlp

repopulate an area where thdy had almost disappeared. They were taken

from close to Gloucester whdre eel numbers are at a 30 year high.

Replenishing the heels of Shropshire. There were plenty of

visitors to the estate this afternoon are willing to lend a

hand. Conservationists have been working to move thousands of baby

eels from downstream in Gloucestershire where they have

become trapped and were dying. Eels have been in decline for about 0

years but they can't get ovdr in possible barriers of tidal locks and

weirs. We are working with the industry to catch thousands of eels

and move them to give the population a better chance of being

sustainable. Each year, trillions and trillions of baby eels `re born

in the sea and hundreds makd it to the River Severn. But because of the

man`made barriers, by the thme they get here to Shrewsbury, the numbers

are just a few hundred. Puphls at Shrewsbury School are also doing

their bit for eel conservathon. We feel proud that we are maintaining

the ecosystem and keeping everything going and it is interesting. Eels

are pretty cool. Although it helps, human intervention is at thd

long`term answer for improvhng stocks in Shropshire. The fhsh needs

specially built passes like this one to help them navigate man`m`de

obstacles. It is basically ` wooden tube in which there are loads of

Nilan bristles and it slows the water up so the eels can wiggle all

the way to the top. Of the 00,0 0 release to, 90,000 are expected to

survive before making the trip back to the sea `` 9000.

After the splendours of the gardens at Shakespeare's birthplace trust

yesterday, are you grateful to be dry again?

I am. From what I hear from some of the reporters, the Sun todax was

enough to create a tan. We could do with this weather over the weekend

although I don't think we whll get too much of it. Some sunshine on

offer but it is a case of r`in and showers and cooler conditions in a

breeze. We have eight dense cluster of showers starting to Spiller from

the south`east, mainly affecting the south eastern half of the rdgion.

There is an art of fairly intense rain swelling up from the

south`west. It is shackled to the area of low pressure so we have will

have a raft of showers on Stnday as well. Tonight, in comparison, it is

looking quiet. There are cldar spells to begin with but cloud will

thicken up later. But largely dry and temperatures will only fall to

around seven Celsius. The coolest part will be in the west of the

region under clear skies. Not as much fog and mist as we had last

night so not too much of th`t to start the day tomorrow. A cloudy

start, though, and a raft of showers moves up from the south`east. Fairly

widespread and some quite hdavy but they restrict themselves to the

eastern half of the region. They will pep up tomorrow night `nd will

be met by the next area of rain moving up from the south`west in the

early hours of. Dreyer the latter part of Saturday.

Delight headlines: Police appealed to British Muslim women to stop

their sons and brothers going to Syria to fight. Staffordshire

terminal cancer patient, Stdphen Sutton, is helping to raise money to

help other teenagers deal whth the disease. Donations now stand at

1,000,950. We will be live hn Staffordshire again at ten o'clock.

Have a good evening. All across the country,

millions of families are waking up to a Britain in which they

find it harder to get on. Whilst the Government keeps

telling people everything is fixed, no longer stops the pound

in their pocket getting smaller or the bills getting

harder to afford. gas and electricity bills have

increased by more than ?300