25/07/2014 Midlands Today

A murder investigation is launched tonight after a shooting

We'll be live with the latest from the scene, also tonight:

After a five`year lull, a surge in revenue for tourism businesses

in the Midlands as the warm weather persuades people to holiday at home.

They are coming back lots and lots of times and spending the day with

us. Fighting for harmony `

the humanitarian worker from Stafford heading to war`torn Gaza to

support local peace activists. The amazing starling formations,

but why do they do it? Going for gold ` the Midlands

athletes hoping to pick up And we've had plenty of glorious

sunshine for the last few days ` it's not over just yet, but things

starting to cool down a little. I'll have

the full forecast later on. Good evening and welcome to BBC

Midlands Today ` first tonight, to Police are dealing with

a fatal shooting near Rugby. Emergency services were called

earlier today to an incident on Newton Road,

near the village of Newton. Our reporter Nadine Towell is there

now, so Nadine, what has happened? What we know is what has been

confirmed by Warwickshire Police, in a statement they issued in the past

hour. You can see the scene behind me, a fair deal of police activity

going on, and they have confirmed a man's body was found in an abandoned

car a short way at Newton Road close to the village of Newton on the

outskirts of rugby. The man was found with gunshot wounds and

pronounced dead at the scene. Release and the emergency were

called at about 12:45pm. `` police. What more police saying?

They are appealing for weakness `` witnesses, specifically two vehicles

were seen leaving the area at around the same time. A silver hatchback

and a maroon metallic coloured car that they are anxious to trace. They

have made two arrests, they have two people in custody, but their

enquiries are continuing. There is no indication as to who the dead

person is, where they might be from, there is speculation in the local

pub about the person being from the local area, but at this stage police

are not confirming that. Well,

that incident means that currently Newton Road is closed between Newton

and the crossroads with Newton Manor Tourist venues across the Midlands

are already reporting a surge in business,

as the warm weather is encouraging More than 100,000 people are

employed full time in It brings around ?8 billion to

the local economy, and some B and attractions are

saying so far it's been the busiest Cath Mackie is at New Road cricket

ground in Worcester tonight, where Cath, the cricket is major draw

for Worcestershire as well, so have Yes, the crowds here are bigger and

noisier than last season. Tonight's game is a sell`out. I'm going to

step out of the way, because look at that year, it is stunning. It is not

just here they are benefiting from the good weather.

Life doesn't get much better than this when you're a kid.

It's the summer holidays, the sun is shining,

What's more, parents and grandparents are also

enjoying themselves at Little Owl Farm Park at Dunhampton near

Worcester, the great weather giving them the perfect chance to get out

Getting out most days all around Worcestershire. This is a lovely

environment for the children to play. But it is so much easier to

find things to do when the weather's nice.

This former pig farm was converted to a farm park less than a year ago.

For the owners it's a great first summer in business.

People have been so lovely, so kind, they are coming back lots and lots

of times, and spending the day with us.

Further north, business at Stourport Marina is well

up on the same time last year; while in the town itself an advertising

campaign plus the sunshine is reaping rewards for traders.

We put an advertising campaign on local radio, that was exercise `` a

success in 2013 so we're running it again. You can see the number of

people who are here enjoying themselves.

My accountant is here this morning, and last year was the first year we

made a substantial profit. This year I think is going to be better.

Places like bed and breakfasts who are also feeling the benefit."

Steve and Caroline Curtis have been running their B at Fladbury

Looking at the number of heads on beds, we are seeing about 30%

improvement on last year. The weather and the tourism industry

here have been up and down in recent years ` and they're enjoying

the good times while they last. With me now is Mike Ashton, from

visit Worcestershire. It is too early for a definitive and visitor

numbers, but anecdotally, what are you hearing? Definitive visitor

numbers. We are getting good figures from everyone. It is great news.

Is it down to the sunshine or has there been lots of investment going

on? We have a cricket ground, millions of pounds, and that is

reaping rewards for the cricket. And there is investment elsewhere. But I

think the weather will always help, but there is a lot of hard work

going on in promoting the country. A lot of competition out there, not

just in the Midlands. But if you get sunshine, people had to the coast.

Can you compete with that? I think we have unique attractions keeping

people in the county. The West Midlands Safari Park, the Malvern

Hills... And all of these are worth a lot of money to the area.

Absolutely. We have had a survey that value risen to ?538 million per

year. The third August industry in the country.

We can expect a lot more visitors in the next few days. `` biggest

industry is my third biggest industry.

Many didn't know him, but they came today to pay

A humanitarian worker from Stafford is about to leave for the West Bank

to spend three months as an international observer.

Chris Venables is travelling to Gaza to work in the heart

He'll be supporting local peace activists,

He's been speaking to our Staffordshire reporter Liz Copper.

This film shows the daily routine of human rights observers

Visiting refugees forms part of their work, as does reporting

Chris Venables is about to leave from his home in

Stafford to join the humanitarian effort in the West Bank.

I walked through Stafford to school every day without thinking much

about violence in the Middle East, but Palestinian children every day

have to walk past the Israeli army and face intimidation and violence.

My role whilst I am there is to help them and make them feel they are not

alone. Chris will be working amongst

a group of impartial human rights observers, monitoring events

in the heart of Gaza. Part of the role involves

helping children as they cross There are children as young as five

who are walking on their own through these IM girders with guns either

side. `` I run girders. `` I run girders.

Back home in Stafford, Chris will be leaving

behind friends and family, who'll be following his work closely.

It is a mix of emotions, but it will be an amazing time out there. And we

will be in contact with him. It was scary when he said, but of all the

friend group who was going to do it, it would be Chris. At feel proud to

know him that he is going out there to do this.

`` I feel proud. Despite the ongoing diplomatic

efforts, fighting's continued It'll be

against this background that the teams of human rights observers will

be working over the coming months. A report for the Labour Party has

found nearly a third of children in The research also reveals that more

young people The report, commissioned

by Birmingham MP Liam Byrne, is calling for a new Child Poverty

Commission to support parents. Nicola Beckford has been taking

a closer look at the figures. The Birmingham Child Poverty Review,

led by MP Liam Byrne, has been gathering evidence on children who

self`harm, and child poverty. The report's authors describe their

findings as "profoundly shocking". Five years ago 289 under`18s were

admitted to A That number increased

to 404 last year. The young people we see, up to

16`year`old people, they may have taken overdose and they may self

harm, they might have burned themselves, or taken other poisonous

substances. The report describes how families

face "scrounge week" at the end of every month, as they are forced to

beg from friends to make ends meet. It says that a third of the city's

children lived in poverty last year. Some experts say there could be

a link between the rise in self`harm and children living

in desperate circumstances. We do think there is a link between

child poverty and self harm, we think that link is a combination of

complex difficulties, in terms of poverty relating to homelessness,

families being in crisis around debt...

The review says the reasons for child poverty are complex `

and the rising cost of childcare, the lack of affordable housing and

Birmingham City Council says they plan to set up a

Child Poverty Commission to drive forward their work.

More of the day?s news now, and a 34`year`old man has been

charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found

Damian Dinobewei was arrested after police made the discovery

Detectives want witnesses who may have seen a pink convertible Audi A3

in the Rubery area earlier that day to contact them.

The Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police is leaving after being

appointed to a new job overseeing police forces in England and Wales.

Mike Cunningham was today announced as Her Majesty's Inspector

The appointment is initially for a five`year period, and commands

An improvement notice served on Walsall council's children's

safeguarding services two years ago has been lifted.

The Department for Education has taken the decision after an Ofsted

inspection revealed "significant improvements" in social work

It's one of nature's most amazing sights ` a giant flock

And now a physicist at the University of Warwick has come up

with a new computer model to explain how the birds manage to do it.

It's research that could one day be used to guide swarms

Thousands of birds flocking in the sky.

Often seen in autumn just before sunset.

You see it for about an hour a day, and it is really impressive, and you

get thousands of people, tourists, joining you and looking at them as

well. They are interested when I say I am doing research.

And this is the starling research Dan has been working on.

A computer model attempting to replicate starling behaviour.

Each "bird" in the model is thinking for itself.

And the key to this model is the birds are all trying to preserve

the opacity of the flock; in other words, making sure the gaps

between birds are large enough so they can see other birds and the sky

So if there is a predator on the far side you might see the predator

itself through the flock, and that is how you introduce this idea into

the model. And this is one situation

the new model might be very useful. If we can takes on thing that we

learn from birds who have developed this kind of trade over thousands of

years, and apply it to drones, it may be more efficient than coming up

with our own system. A murder investigation is launched

tonight after a fatal shooting Rebecca will have

your detailed weekend weather Tens of thousands of revellers

are heading to Warwickshire this weekend for one of the country's

biggest dance festivals. Gold or silver, he's guaranteed one

medal ` but what colour will it be? War hero George Dexter survived

the sinking of not one, but two ships and he came to be known as

"Uncle Albert" after the character The truth is he had only two

relatives in the world, and when he died this month,

it was feared his funeral would be Nearly 50 mourners turned up to

honour a man whom most It was George Dexter's last journey

` but he didn't make it alone. And the fact that most

of the mourners had never even met him mattered not

at all It have been a small Guys like him gave us our freedom

today. That is why we are here. I wouldn't like any veteran to go away

from this world to the next world without anybody being here.

One of his last living relatives was very grateful. Really glad to see a

fine turnout. In Greek `` in the Greek

Mediterranean `` in the Greek Mediterranean he was upon Dutch

troops system `` troopship when it was sunk by the Germans. Then he was

on a second and third ship which were also sunk. George was one of a

handful to survive, and his nephew heard the story often. He was

grateful that he had survived, and wanted to make sure that the memory

of his comrades who were lost really stayed in people's minds.

There was one of a mourner who knew George, 77 `` a 77`year`old who flew

over from his home in Holland. His father was the captain of the ship,

and he died that day. He told me the story and what was going on during

the bombing and the sinking, and it is important for me and the

families. He outlived two wives, he was 97

when he died. George Dexter may now be gone, but most ethnically he is

not forgotten. Tens of thousands people are descending on

Warwickshire this weekend for one of the country's biggest dance

festivals. Global Gathering has been held

on the site at But while all eyes are

on the performers, behind the scenes local charities

are benefiting from the event, as Mention Global Gathering and you

probably think of something like this.

But it is unlikely you ever think of this, two community first

responders. They `` their equipment and ongoing costs are all financed

by a ?5,000 donation from Global Gathering last year. With heart

attacks, minutes make such a difference, and if we are next door,

in the next village, it can be the difference between life and death.

Long Marston has also had donations for the church, local shop, village

hall and a permanent defibrillator. Seeing it on television makes people

realise that Global Gathering do great things.

On the other side of Stratford`upon`Avon, the Shakespeare

Hospice. Many people just take the money and run, so the fact they do

try and support ourselves, the guide dogs, local churches etc, I think at

least it is showing they are trying to help. This is my first festival,

so I wanted to do one that was crying `` out there. Everyone always

talks about going to Global Gathering. It is a good buzz.

Around 50,000 people attend Global Gathering each day, and since it

started in 2001, they have given over ?300,000 to worthy causes. The

festival's been based here for a reason, and a lot of the people who

founded the festival are from the area, so it is important to give

back and make sure we are a strong member of the community.

For some locals, Global Gathering means a weekend of misery with

traffic jams and I use it late into the night.

But with its origins right here in the town, this is one festival

determined to give something back as a thank you to the community.

And for regular travel updates on the roads around Long Marston

and those affected by Global Gathering, you can listen to

After eight Midlands medals at the Commonwealth Games yesterday,

we haven't had quite the same drama today.

Our sports editor Nick Clitheroe joins me now.

I am thrilled to say a gold medal has been won by Danny Williams from

Shrewsbury in the judo. He beat the New Zealander to get `` take the

gold in the last few minutes. He was not in the original team, he was

only called up but the last minute echoes of an injury to somebody

else. He was sat there with a bowl of spaghetti and garlic bread when

he took the call, and he had to put them aside because he did not want

to put anywhere it on. What have been the other Midlands

highlights today? Well, there's no doubt

the other big highlight has been the performance of the swimmer

Adam Peaty from Uttoxeter. He was disappointed to finish

just outside the medals in the 200 But he bounced straight back

in the heats of the 100 metre breaststroke this morning, flying

away from the field to win his race He's currently ranked second

in the world at the event so there are high hopes

of a medal in tomorrow's final. I'm not looking at medals at the

moment. I just want to put on a good show for the crowd.

There is plenty more action in the swimming pool tonight.

As well as Peaty in the semi`final of his event,

we'll also get another chance to see Kidderminster's Amy Smith

And Rachael Kelly from Staffordshire will go in the final of

the 100 metres butterfly ` although she was the slowest qualifier, so

But you never know, if she did that it would be a fantastic end to the

day. But the main news, that gold`medal for Danny Williams in the

judo. And there's

a special photo gallery on our Facebook page of all the Midlands

medal winners so far, and we'll be It's been another warm and sunny

day, and Rebecca is on the balcony for us ` so is it flip`flop weather

or welly weather this weekend? Don't put those flip`flops away yet,

because it is still gloriously sunny, and it will stay that way as

we have through the weekend. You might need sunglasses this evening,

certainly here in the centre of Birmingham plenty of people are

sucking up the sunshine. Today our temperatures managed to make it up

to 27 Celsius, we got 26 and 25 elsewhere, and it will continue to

stay that way, we could even reach that tomorrow. But if you are

looking for change, things will start a head that way over the next

few days. Plenty more sunshine to come in the forecast, but our

temperatures are going to take a little bit of a tumble during the

next few days. Overhead at the moment we do have clear that arise,

but we have a little bit of cloud working its way across the South

Midlands, even as a few showers. But overnight tonight, calm and clear.

It has been a hot day, so it will be a muggy night. We start off tomorrow

with low cloud and missed having worked its way in from East, that

will burn of rather rapidly. Anti`of cloud and run, so that hums ``

sunshine will be quite hazy. `` plenty of cloud and rain. We have a

cold front working its way through, which will bring some showers

overnight, and the air behind that is going to be a little cooler. Good

news for God is waiting for a shower, 's by a nose. `` gardeners.

It will still be a muggy night on Sunday night, `` on Saturday night,

but Sunday is not looking too bad. Showers wrapping up at times through

the day, `` popping up. As we head into the start of the working week,

we will get sunny spells and showers, but our temperatures are

back to where we would expect them to be, between 21 and 22 Celsius.

Keep those flip`flops to hand. Back on track ` the UK economy has

now grown bigger than it was And a murder investigation has been

launched tonight after a fatal Let's go back to our top story,

and Nadine Towell is in Newton near Rugby, the police have launched

a murder investigation, The village of Newton is behind the

roadblock, so we are unable to access the village. The only

building in the vicinity is the pub, the St Thomas Cross Inn, which was

open at the time the emergency services arrived this lunch time.

But the lady running the pub has told me she heard absolutely

nothing. She was as surprised as everybody else when the police

turned up, and she has been unable to really help them with their

investigation. There is speculation going on inside at about the cause

for the shooting and who the dead person might be. Police forensics

officers are still at the scene, and I believe the car and the man's body

are still at the scene. Police are holding a briefing later, so I am

hoping we will be able to bring you the very latest at our 10:25pm over

ten. A man has been arrested of reaching

Birmingham Airport security. `` suspicion of reaching. The

22`year`old from Redditch is accused of entering an aerodrome without

permission and boarding an aircraft without permission.

I will be back at 10:25pm with the latest on the fatal shooting in

Warwickshire. Remember you can get in touch with us.

I will see you later on.