:00:00. > :00:34.To find somebody doing that is the biggest pig trail possible.
:00:35. > :00:40.We'll be asking the commissioner in charge of investigating
:00:41. > :00:42.Allan Richards' case how he was allowed to get
:00:43. > :00:46.Also tonight: Ambulances at full stretch - the West Midlands service
:00:47. > :00:48.has its busiest day ever, on New Years Day.
:00:49. > :00:50.I'll be looking at whether the batteries to power electric cars
:00:51. > :00:56.A campaign to recognise the work of the women who worked in munitions
:00:57. > :01:03.We worked around the clock. There was never a break.
:01:04. > :01:08.here and there but on the whole the first week of 2017
:01:09. > :01:15.I'll have a full forecast for you later.
:01:16. > :01:24.described the actions of a former colleague who abused
:01:25. > :01:28.The force is introducing rigorous vetting checks
:01:29. > :01:36.and better opportunities to report corrupt colleagues.
:01:37. > :01:38.Former constable, Allan Richards, was jailed for
:01:39. > :01:41.He'd been questioned about allegations before,
:01:42. > :01:45.Today a report was released detailing how the West Midlands
:01:46. > :01:47.force plans to make sure there are no similar
:01:48. > :01:52.For the whole of his long police career, PC
:01:53. > :02:01.Any suspicions about his behaviour during that time failed
:02:02. > :02:08.Preventing and detecting crimes involving vulnerable people...
:02:09. > :02:12.Today, at the request of the Police and Crime Commissioner,
:02:13. > :02:15.the West Midlands force released a report detailing how it
:02:16. > :02:18.plans to uncover rogue officers and prevent them
:02:19. > :02:22.from going undetected for so long ever again.
:02:23. > :02:28.police officer and member of police staff, has been disgusted by what
:02:29. > :02:31.Allan Richards did and they are really pleased to see him go down
:02:32. > :02:35.And we've got a number of processes in place addressing
:02:36. > :02:38.training, culture, and vetting, to try and ensure that that never
:02:39. > :02:44.In the year 2000 a complaint was made.
:02:45. > :02:47.He was interviewed by police but no action was taken.
:02:48. > :02:51.Four years later he was banned from the Scout movement and again
:02:52. > :02:55.interviewed about an alleged assault but there was no prosecution.
:02:56. > :02:58.A year later Richards is moved to backroom duties,
:02:59. > :03:04.In 2011 he retires, on a full pension.
:03:05. > :03:08.Then in 2014 another victim comes forward
:03:09. > :03:16.prompting a fresh investigation leading to his conviction.
:03:17. > :03:20.Now if you've been in the force for more than ten years you'll be
:03:21. > :03:22.vetted again and there is a 24-hour hotline
:03:23. > :03:26.I can understand when people hear that one
:03:27. > :03:32.officer has fallen well below the standards that they should
:03:33. > :03:37.Is upsetting to the other vast majority of capable,
:03:38. > :03:42.honest, decent officers in the force.
:03:43. > :03:44.Allan Richards has embarrassed the police.
:03:45. > :03:47.But senior officers say this case has also
:03:48. > :03:52.increased their resolve to tackle corruption in the ranks.
:03:53. > :04:02.Dr Derrick Campbell is commissioner with the Independent Police
:04:03. > :04:11.How was he allowed to get away with this for so long?
:04:12. > :04:18.One of the problems we have is people who are very plausible, they
:04:19. > :04:25.are in positions of power, and they are allowed to abuse that power.
:04:26. > :04:30.When they start to exploit it in that way, understanding the system,
:04:31. > :04:39.using it to their own devious ends, once they understand how the system
:04:40. > :04:44.works. What do you take -- what do you make of how the police has
:04:45. > :04:51.responded? What they said is positive. Anything that moves
:04:52. > :04:56.towards eliminating this type of behaviour is positive. The force has
:04:57. > :05:01.taken proactive steps. The public are alarmed to know an officer has
:05:02. > :05:07.behave in this way for this length of time. At the moment we are in the
:05:08. > :05:10.middle of our investigation. The force has responded well. It is
:05:11. > :05:16.encouraging to see this proactive initiative. You are in the middle of
:05:17. > :05:20.your investigation but would you be confident enough to say that given
:05:21. > :05:26.the steps that the West Midlands force have taken you do not think
:05:27. > :05:29.this would happen again? That is a very interesting point. It is
:05:30. > :05:34.difficult for anyone to stick their neck out and say that will never
:05:35. > :05:39.happen again. We can see that the force has responded quickly. We are
:05:40. > :05:43.working closely with them. It is reassuring to know that the force
:05:44. > :05:47.does not want to be in this position again. The Police and Crime
:05:48. > :05:52.Commissioner is allocated to that and so are the chief officers. When
:05:53. > :06:05.will your investigation be complete? We are dissipating in the region of
:06:06. > :06:06.another six months. Thank you. -- we are anticipating in the region of
:06:07. > :06:09.six months. The ambulance service
:06:10. > :06:10.in the West Midlands had its busiest day ever -
:06:11. > :06:13.receiving more than 4,500 That's more than 800 more
:06:14. > :06:16.than their previous record in 2011. It was the conclusion of a very
:06:17. > :06:19.busy festive period, the majority of calls
:06:20. > :06:21.on New Years Eve Joan Cummins is at the ambulance
:06:22. > :06:24.head quarters in Dudley part in New Years Eve
:06:25. > :06:29.into New Years Day for calls What about the rest
:06:30. > :06:35.of the Christmas holidays? Over the festive period of the
:06:36. > :06:41.Ambulance Service covered a population of 5.5 million. They
:06:42. > :06:46.would expect around 3000 calls per day but between Christmas and New
:06:47. > :06:52.Year that rose to 3500, and then we get to that whopper New Year's Day.
:06:53. > :06:57.You are in charge of clinical direction at the Ambulance Service.
:06:58. > :07:02.4500 calls, New Year's Day, that is unbelievable. It has been a busy
:07:03. > :07:09.time. The busiest we have ever experienced. There was a variety of
:07:10. > :07:13.reasons. Christmas on a Sunday. Bank holidays either side. A period of
:07:14. > :07:17.four days when things were close. It is good that our staff and
:07:18. > :07:23.volunteers worked so well to deliver a safe service. That is credit to
:07:24. > :07:27.them. Thanks go to the staff who have worked over and above any
:07:28. > :07:31.expectation we would have of them. It has been very good, the response
:07:32. > :07:35.they have given. People will be worried that because of the demands,
:07:36. > :07:43.that ambulances will not be getting two jobs on time. Have you been held
:07:44. > :07:48.up in a all? We have heard of booster hospitals that closed units
:07:49. > :07:53.until this morning. Everyone is working hard at the moment. Yes, we
:07:54. > :07:58.do have delays, and it is not acceptable that we have delays. Some
:07:59. > :08:04.of the delays have peaked high this year. At one point, yesterday we
:08:05. > :08:09.lost 350 hours of ambulance. That is 10% of our total ambulance resource.
:08:10. > :08:16.That is not acceptable and we want to make improvements. How do you do
:08:17. > :08:20.it? We have got to make sure that the entire system knuckles down and
:08:21. > :08:24.delivers an effective service that everyone from social care, the
:08:25. > :08:30.hospitals, and other parts of the system. And the other message, call
:08:31. > :08:35.the arrogance when you have got a real emergency, not like one person
:08:36. > :08:37.who rang up, saying they want a lift home. They are not a taxi service.
:08:38. > :08:40.Wise words. Could the next generation
:08:41. > :08:43.of electric cars be powered by a new battery developed
:08:44. > :08:45.here in the Midlands? Researchers in Coventry
:08:46. > :08:46.believe it could happen. They say their design is an 80%
:08:47. > :08:49.improvement on existing technology - and could be tested in a prototype
:08:50. > :08:53.vehicle as early as next year. Our Science Correspondent David
:08:54. > :09:00.Gregory-Kumar has the details. This is Jaguar's new electric sports
:09:01. > :09:03.car unveiled at the LA Motor Show But who will make the batteries
:09:04. > :09:09.under the bonnet? If the car companies are going to go
:09:10. > :09:12.into electric cars we need a facility to produce
:09:13. > :09:14.batteries in this country. Not just import
:09:15. > :09:19.everything from abroad. And that's what this research at WMG
:09:20. > :09:22.near Coventry is all about. Building a better car
:09:23. > :09:24.battery for the electric We're trying to create
:09:25. > :09:32.an energy storage system that is an 80% improvement
:09:33. > :09:36.on current technologies so we can go from an experimental chemistry
:09:37. > :09:40.through to an individual cell and take those most promising
:09:41. > :09:44.technologies and build them into a battery pack which we can
:09:45. > :09:47.then put into a real vehicle. And that's what makes this research
:09:48. > :09:50.centre so different. It can take an idea in a lab
:09:51. > :09:53.right through to full There is so much intense
:09:54. > :10:02.effort going into research on batteries
:10:03. > :10:09.for vehicles at the moment. Here at WMG this is their new ?20
:10:10. > :10:12.million expansion to We are up against
:10:13. > :10:19.the rest of Europe, we are up against Asia,
:10:20. > :10:22.and I would say it is We are just ahead
:10:23. > :10:27.of the competition. Expect to see the first
:10:28. > :10:29.prototype cars using batteries made
:10:30. > :10:37.here early 2017. And David is at Aston University
:10:38. > :10:40.with a first for this country, a very unusual electric
:10:41. > :10:41.car and charging point. David, what makes that
:10:42. > :10:56.green box so special? The Green box and the car itself,
:10:57. > :11:00.standard cup, the car is charging through this cable, but what makes
:11:01. > :11:04.this car and the charging point unique is that this car can send
:11:05. > :11:09.energy the other way, it can be used as an emergency battery, to send
:11:10. > :11:13.power back into the grid. It is an idea that comes from Japan. After
:11:14. > :11:21.the earthquake disaster, they realised they had energy that could
:11:22. > :11:26.have been used as back-up power. Do you think 2017 could be the year
:11:27. > :11:31.of the Electric car? There is no doubt that the number of
:11:32. > :11:36.electric vehicles has taken off since 2014 but it is still only just
:11:37. > :11:40.over 1% of cars bought every year on the road and the Government is not
:11:41. > :11:46.good to hit its target of the number of low emissions vehicles it wants
:11:47. > :11:50.out there. One of the issues as these charging points. What do you
:11:51. > :11:57.get charged can vary. Whether or not you can use a charging point can
:11:58. > :12:01.freely on whether you are members of subscription groups. Government
:12:02. > :12:04.wants to clear that up and make it easier for drivers of electric cars
:12:05. > :12:06.to hook up without being charged too much for the pleasure. That is the
:12:07. > :12:11.big change this year. A Coventry man's been jailed for 18
:12:12. > :12:13.months after being found guilty Ahmad Ismail, who's 19
:12:14. > :12:18.and from Portwrinkle Avenue, was convicted along with two other
:12:19. > :12:22.men who planned to travel to Iraq The court heard Ismail
:12:23. > :12:26.had failed to disclose A man's died after his car hit two
:12:27. > :12:30.brick walls and ploughed through the front gardens of three
:12:31. > :12:32.houses in Walsall. It happened in Bell Lane
:12:33. > :12:37.around 10.20 last night. West Midlands Ambulance Service said
:12:38. > :12:39.a woman passenger suffered serious Fake degrees from the University
:12:40. > :12:47.of Wolverhampton are being offered 40 websites have been shut down
:12:48. > :12:53.in a crackdown on the sale Degree certificates were copied -
:12:54. > :12:57.so they looked like New figures have revealed that
:12:58. > :13:05.police forces across our region are dealing with an increasing
:13:06. > :13:07.number of call outs Every year for the last five years,
:13:08. > :13:12.it's gone up, reaching more The youngest person detained
:13:13. > :13:18.was a 13-year-old girl arrested by West Mercia Police -
:13:19. > :13:21.the oldest a man aged 81 held Our Special Correspondent,
:13:22. > :13:24.Peter Wilson has been Well for years the police have said,
:13:25. > :13:38.we're trained to detain and arrest criminals,
:13:39. > :13:41.not the mentally ill. And nearly half of all deaths
:13:42. > :13:44.in police custody involve people but he's also suffering
:13:45. > :13:55.from a mental condition. Staffordshire police take
:13:56. > :14:04.into custody more mentally ill people than any other force
:14:05. > :14:10.in the region. But it's fallen from a high of 111
:14:11. > :14:13.in 2011 to 35 in 2015. figure accounts for more than half
:14:14. > :14:19.the region's numbers. Here's the Police and Crime
:14:20. > :14:35.Commissioner for Staffordshire. Sometimes in the worst circumstances
:14:36. > :14:39.they can be very destructive. One individual absconded and it ended up
:14:40. > :14:45.taking more than 20 police officers off shift to deal with that
:14:46. > :14:50.individual. They were in custody for 70 hours because there was nowhere
:14:51. > :14:52.else for them to go. I am delighted they are now investing in better
:14:53. > :14:55.facilities. the mentally ill is still going up
:14:56. > :15:05.all of our forces have seen dramatic falls in the numbers detained,
:15:06. > :15:07.down from 560 to 64. Well, the police and the NHS have
:15:08. > :15:22.been working more closely together. One of the things we are interested
:15:23. > :15:26.in doing with police forces and other services is working out who we
:15:27. > :15:31.can avoid people needing to be detained in the first place. We have
:15:32. > :15:36.street triage and South Staffordshire. Nurses and police
:15:37. > :15:37.officers together to reduce the likelihood that somebody needs
:15:38. > :15:39.detention in the first place. But that type of support
:15:40. > :15:41.and care is patchy and the mental health charities
:15:42. > :15:44.are warning that there needs to be more investment to make this
:15:45. > :15:48.work across the country. Thanks for joining us
:15:49. > :15:50.on Midlands Today. We'll have your detailed weather
:15:51. > :15:52.forecast to come shortly. The site of Spode for 240 years -
:15:53. > :15:59.a home of fine china demolished to make way for a creative
:16:00. > :16:08.village in Stoke. And campaigning to get public
:16:09. > :16:11.recognition for the canary girls - the Herefordshire women who worked
:16:12. > :16:13.in munitions factories Stoke City could move several places
:16:14. > :16:23.up the Premier league table tonight, if they manage to end a run of five
:16:24. > :16:26.games without a win. As for the bank holiday
:16:27. > :16:30.action, West Brom came But Aston Villa and Birmingham City
:16:31. > :16:34.both lost in the Championship, West Brom were outplayed
:16:35. > :16:39.during the first half. So it was no surprise
:16:40. > :16:42.when Robert Snodgrass put Hull City But after a few well-chosen
:16:43. > :16:45.words from Tony Pulis Gareth McAuley popped
:16:46. > :16:53.in their second. And it didn't take long for James
:16:54. > :17:06.Morrison to seal a 3-1 victory. It has been a good year for us. Now
:17:07. > :17:09.we need to bring in a couple of players and improve the group and
:17:10. > :17:12.give everybody a lift. We are taking nothing for granted.
:17:13. > :17:14.The game at St Andrews followed a similar pattern.
:17:15. > :17:16.Lukas Jutkiewicz gave Birmingham a first half lead.
:17:17. > :17:18.But it was Brentford who turned things round.
:17:19. > :17:20.Three times they breached the Blues defence.
:17:21. > :17:23.To leave new boss Gianfranco Zola with only one point to show
:17:24. > :17:26.This was the most disappointing since I took over,
:17:27. > :17:30.Steve Bruce wasn't too pleased either,
:17:31. > :17:34.after watching Aston Villa lose to the only goal away to Cardiff.
:17:35. > :17:38.And it was the same result for Burton Albion, who are just now
:17:39. > :17:41.one point above the bottom three after losing 1-0 to Preston.
:17:42. > :17:43.Whilst Wolves and Port Vale were both drawing
:17:44. > :17:50.Coventry City took the lead twice at home to Bolton in League One.
:17:51. > :17:52.But those goals from Marcus Tudgay and Stuart Beavon weren't
:17:53. > :17:57.For the second game running, a late equaliser in stoppage time
:17:58. > :18:02.Shrewsbury also remain in the relegation zone
:18:03. > :18:08.after conceding an early goal at home to Fleetwood.
:18:09. > :18:11.And this bad miss by Amadou Bakayoko proved costly
:18:12. > :18:15.for Walsall who went down 2-0 at home to Rochdale.
:18:16. > :18:22.This is an important game for Stoke City
:18:23. > :18:25.Yes, Stoke have now gone five games without a win.
:18:26. > :18:29.And Mark Hughes knows they need to tighten up defensively
:18:30. > :18:33.because they've conceded four goals on eight occasions during 2016.
:18:34. > :18:35.But you'd really fancy their chances of taking three
:18:36. > :18:38.points against struggling Watford this evening.
:18:39. > :18:42.Birmingham City's recent form isn't much better,
:18:43. > :18:44.they've really slumped since the arrival
:18:45. > :18:50.Yes, only one point from a possible 12 since Zola arrived.
:18:51. > :18:52.True, they've had some tough games, including Brighton,
:18:53. > :19:02.and away trips to Derby and Barnsley.
:19:03. > :19:05.But some Blues fans were singing there's only one Gary Rowett
:19:06. > :19:06.during yesterday's home defeat by Brentford.
:19:07. > :19:08.This weekend, it's the FA Cup 3rd round.
:19:09. > :19:12.Stoke against Wolves and Villa away to Spurs.
:19:13. > :19:15.Plus a truly historic occasion for non-league Stourbridge.
:19:16. > :19:18.They're away to Wycombe Wanderers, and we'll be looking forward to that
:19:19. > :19:29.The old Spode factory in Stoke on Trent made fine china
:19:30. > :19:35.Now the site is being redeveloped to make a creative village.
:19:36. > :19:37.Our Staffordshire reporter Sian Grzeszczyk has been given
:19:38. > :19:43.special access to see the demolition work.
:19:44. > :19:46.Building a new chapter for the old Spode factory site
:19:47. > :19:58.The building behind he used to be a distribution centre. That is going
:19:59. > :20:02.to take the rest of the day to demolish it and then work will
:20:03. > :20:05.continue to get rid of the more buildings here on site.
:20:06. > :20:11.Things couldn't look more different now compared to its factory days.
:20:12. > :20:16.The ten-acre site was bought by the city council after it
:20:17. > :20:27.Today's work is the next stage in its regeneration.
:20:28. > :20:38.The building is being demolished detract from the wider site, they do
:20:39. > :20:42.not have any historical value. That is important that we preserve that
:20:43. > :20:46.heritage but we must bring the site back into use.
:20:47. > :20:49.Fred is one of the artists who's moved into one of the 43
:20:50. > :20:52.studios in the old factory, part of plans to make this
:20:53. > :20:55.His work is very much inspired by the history
:20:56. > :21:10.It is wonderful that the site is being regenerated and turned back to
:21:11. > :21:15.creative use. This piece is from a photograph taken in 1988 when the
:21:16. > :21:18.Spode factory was up and running. I like the fact that the people were
:21:19. > :21:20.just coming back from lunch when I took that photograph.
:21:21. > :21:24.This area is being transformed into student accomodation.
:21:25. > :21:27.the demolition is complete the city council is confident it
:21:28. > :21:38.it'll take five years to bring this place fully back to life.
:21:39. > :21:41.They were called the canary girls - the women who were exposed to toxic
:21:42. > :21:44.chemicals which turned their skin and hair yellow.
:21:45. > :21:48.They worked at munitions factories during the two world
:21:49. > :21:51.wars, but their work has largely gone unrecognised.
:21:52. > :21:53.BBC Hereford and Worcester are launching a campaign
:21:54. > :22:00.Sarah Bishop has been to meet one woman who was one of just
:22:01. > :22:13.In 1942, Nancy Billings was one of over 2,000 women working
:22:14. > :22:15.at the Rotherwas munitions factory in Hereford.
:22:16. > :22:22.I was in empty shell, and it was quite hard work, really,
:22:23. > :22:25.heavy work and not very clean work, either, because we had to clean
:22:26. > :22:28.the shells and prepare them ready to be filled.
:22:29. > :22:33.At dawn on the 27th of July, the air raid siren sounded.
:22:34. > :22:37.Betty, my friend, she just worked opposite to me,
:22:38. > :22:40.she ran round and grabbed my arm and said, "Nancy, come
:22:41. > :22:50.We raced down the corridor and when we got out,
:22:51. > :22:55.the air raid shelters were locked and the very next thing was this
:22:56. > :22:58.aircraft that came down so low, you can see the swastika
:22:59. > :23:05.He came down so low and Betty shouted at me, "Nancy, Nancy,
:23:06. > :23:08.put your hands over your face, put your hands of your face!"
:23:09. > :23:10.So I did and then the bombs dropped and it was just
:23:11. > :23:20.The Germans had dropped at least two 250 kilograms bombs.
:23:21. > :23:22.Nancy and her friend Betty were the only two survivors
:23:23. > :23:41.I was so shaken and trembling. I thought, oh my God. But I have never
:23:42. > :23:48.ever want us to think about it after that. I just wanted to forget it.
:23:49. > :23:52.She did not even tell her own family about her remarkable escape until a
:23:53. > :23:59.few years ago. The factory where she worked still stands. In the long
:24:00. > :24:04.term our children and our children pass back children will need to know
:24:05. > :24:08.more about this factory. I know there are plans to celebrate its
:24:09. > :24:10.perhaps with a visitor centre or a museum. That would be great. It
:24:11. > :24:11.needs to happen. Having lost two sisters
:24:12. > :24:14.and her father in the war, Nancy went on to marry and have
:24:15. > :24:17.three children of her own. She's now 93 and says unlike women
:24:18. > :24:21.who were in the Land Army, she's had no letter from the Queen,
:24:22. > :24:23.no public acknowledgement of what she and thousands of other
:24:24. > :24:34.munitions workers did. We've already had some lovely
:24:35. > :24:38.memories on facebook. Paula Cade sent us this
:24:39. > :24:43.picture of her grandmother, sitting at a machine behind a table
:24:44. > :24:46.of bullets in a munitions factory. Paula thinks she'd have been
:24:47. > :24:49.between 16 and 20 years old. While Mike King posted this picture
:24:50. > :24:52.of his mother who worked in the Rotherwas factory in Hereford
:24:53. > :24:54.in World War Two. And his grandmother is in this
:24:55. > :24:58.large group photo taken Thank you to everyone
:24:59. > :25:02.who has got in touch with your memories and views
:25:03. > :25:17.about the campaign. There has been a night to the start
:25:18. > :25:25.of the new working week. As set to continue? It is. One look at this
:25:26. > :25:30.Weather Watchers picture. Their heavy frost tells you that the
:25:31. > :25:36.lowest temperatures were not just confined to the countryside. There
:25:37. > :25:42.was a beautiful sunrise in Birmingham. This frontal system
:25:43. > :25:50.pushing and from the north is separating the cloud. After that we
:25:51. > :26:00.get a brief brush with high pressure. High-pressure resumes
:26:01. > :26:04.control over the weekend. The rest of the week is looking dry with
:26:05. > :26:13.frosty nights. Rain arriving on Friday afternoon. Over the weekend
:26:14. > :26:20.mostly settled. This evening we have had this cloud slipping southwards.
:26:21. > :26:26.Tonight with all of this cloud temperatures will remain above
:26:27. > :26:30.freezing. Not a frosty date. There will be patchy light rain in the
:26:31. > :26:36.north of the region. Once this cloud has shifted south, it will be a
:26:37. > :26:41.brighter and drier afternoon, wintry sunshine beginning to develop before
:26:42. > :26:48.the day is out. Top temperatures quite High Wycombe parents to what
:26:49. > :26:56.we have had recently. -- top temperatures are high and pierced of
:26:57. > :27:01.what we have had recently. A widespread sharp frost across the
:27:02. > :27:12.region. Temperatures will plunge during the night. Even cold in
:27:13. > :27:16.sheltered spots. They frosty start to Thursday. Sonny through the day.
:27:17. > :27:19.Temperatures struggling. Temperatures struggling as rain
:27:20. > :27:26.arrives on Friday. And on tomorrow's Midlands Today
:27:27. > :27:28.we'll be on Kinver Edge This year marks 100 years
:27:29. > :27:32.since the 200 acre site was donated Since then the area
:27:33. > :27:35.has been expanded. Now the Trust wants to create
:27:36. > :27:37.a lasting legacy by creating a new pathway to make it more
:27:38. > :27:40.accessible to visitors. That is all for now. I am back at
:27:41. > :27:57.half past ten. Goodbye. Magical new drama...
:27:58. > :28:05.The Worst Witch. Something like this
:28:06. > :28:05.could change my life. We're looking for someone
:28:06. > :28:09.who can sing, someone who can move. Someone who can keep an audience
:28:10. > :28:12.on the edge of their seat. Something like this
:28:13. > :28:18.could change my life.