08/03/2017 Midlands Today

The headlines tonight: Two people dead, another critical,

after a stabbing at a block of flats in Wolverhampton.

Is it is still frightening, it is still worrying the fact that two

We'll have the very latest developments live

The suspect stabbed his sister to death and critically injured his

Long delays all day on the M6 northbound after a lorry fire:

it won't fully re-open until ten tonight.

They already tackle anti social behaviour on the streets at night:

now volunteers asked to patrol in the daytime too.

Remembering a hundred years ago when thousands turned out

for a special wartime football match in Hereford.

It is something for us to think that my grandmother and my auntie

played football which women just did not do at the time

For the first time in a while, we felt the warmth of spring today.

Will it last? Mido E. -- find out later.

Two people have died following a domestic

A man attacked his sister and mother before fatally stabbing himself.

Police used stun grenades to get into a flat in

Leasowes Drive shortly before ten o'clock this morning.

and scared by what's happened. are said to have been shocked

A warning that Amy Cole's report does contain images some

Just after four o'clock this afternoon, the bodies were brought

out. Lives lost a few hours earlier in an incident that sent shock waves

through the local community. West Midlands Police say an armed

officers initially went into the flat in used a teaser but that was

ineffective so they requested armed officers who used stun grenades to

distract the gunmen -- the knifeman. No shots were fired. Police say they

found a man in his 30s who had stabbed his sister to death and

critically injured his mother. It is understood he turned the nave on

himself and died a short time later. I want to stress that the man was

armed so we had to act quickly and officers did that. As a result of

that, two officers have been injured, one has a stab wound to the

arm from the suspect and the other has a leg injury after being chased

by the suspect. We believe those injuries are minor. The mother of

the suspect who is 59 was taken to hospital with serious stomach

injuries and underwent surgery this afternoon. This woman lives in the

blog and is shocked by what happened. It is still frightening

and worrying, the fact that two people have died. Just there. It is

still a shock, a big shock. Are you thinking of moving now? Yes, I

would. We wanted to move anyway but definitely want to move now. This

woman lives opposite and is pregnant and concerned. The chances are we

will know who they are because everyone knows everyone around here.

It is a shock, it is shocking and worrying at the same time. So tight

neck are they, the local church is to open their doors so people can

pay their respects. The churches here for the community is so

tomorrow morning we will open the church for three hours, from nine

until 12, when people can come and sit in the quietness and say a

prayer. This is a community left coming to terms with a traumatic and

tragic event. Any call is in pain for us right now. Why is there an

independent police investigation into this case? The IPCC says it

wants to look at how the situation was handled by West Midlands Police

because it wants to establish a clear picture of the involvement

into how events unfolded. In a statement it said it is proper that

there is independent scrutiny on what took place. Meanwhile the

police are trying to piece together the sequence of events that led to

the tragic event at this block of flats. Thank you.

And three people have been taken to hospital

Police were called to Sefton Drive in Bomere Heath, just

north of Shrewsbury, shortly after eight

A woman was found in the street with a stab wound to the chest and ribs -

she was taken to hospital via air ambulance.

A man was then found inside an address in the street

with stab injuries, alongside an elderly woman with

Police say they're not looking for anyone else

Police raided three locations in Burton upon Trent today as part

Two people were arrested and two women were referred to support

services for people suspected of being victims of modern slavery.

It's part of an operation being led by Avon and Somerset

police following a check on a nail bar in Bath.

The Chancellor announced the government's set aside

?23 million to improve transport pinch points

But there wasn't much else in his budget statement today

which was of direct relevance to the Midlands.

That's because the main meat of government policy

will be announced tomorrow, if Phillip Hammond can

I will follow the launch of the Northern Powerhouse strategy and

Autumn Statement by publishing tomorrow our

addressing productivity barriers across the Mid..

Our Political Editor Patrick Burns is at Westminster for us now.

So I gather Philip Hammond may have fluffed his mention

of the Midlands Engine in his speech, Patrick,

but it seems as though there'll be more detail to come?

That's right. He will be hoping to get his words out tomorrow when he

unveils that strategy to go with the engine and a whole string of things

beyond that. I am joined here by Liam Byrne, Labour MPs for

Birmingham and a former Treasury Minister and Richard Graham,

Conservative MP for Gloucester. Doesn't the Chancellor actually have

to rebuild some bridges with the West Midlands because the money he

is offering for traffic points is less than one third for what he

offering for roads to the northern powerhouse? My interest is really

more about the A417, the missing link between the M4 and the 415. I

am sure tomorrow will seize some exciting announcements about roads

and transport infrastructure which will speed up activity and therefore

increased growth and productivity in the West Midlands so we will wait to

say what they come up with tomorrow. That is a raft of further statements

so this is a budget in two parts, the Midlands getting the full

treatment tomorrow? C. I think most people on the West Midlands would've

looked at the budget today and thought, why have they got in for

the West Midlands again? The National Health service has been

short-changed... There is extra funding. That is a quarter of what

the social sector needs. Not a single penny extra for the police.

Crime and drugs is a number-1 issue in our area. We need more money for

Police and Crime Panel we not get. Is the Chancellor actually ignoring

those important issues on the streets? I would say crime has come

down sharply, 20% less crime in almost every part of the country.

Certainly in Gloucester we are confident that a flat level of

funding for the police will be enough to make sure crime keeps

falling. On the bigger issues, I think 2 billion for social care is

more generous than Liam has implied. What about the increase in national

insurance contributions, that is the question about whether this

contravenes the Conservative manifesto? It is interesting. It is

not increasing any of the national insurance rates. There is an

equalisation. Some of the self-employed it will hit but not

those earning less than 16,000. It is time that everyone paid the same.

One word? And a promise. We will leave it there. -- breaks a promise.

And we're expecting more details about the government's plan

Full analysis of course with Patrick about what it all means

on the Sunday Politics at the usual time of 11 o'clock.

Drivers are being warned to expect severe delays around Stoke

and Stafford tonight after a lorry caught fire on the M6

Highways England are carrying out repairs on the northbound

carriageway, but they're saying it's unlikely to reopen fully

Well basically an HGV caught fire before seven o'clock this morning

on the northbound carriageway between junctions 14 -

This is a key part of the M6 and as you can imagine any lane

closures of any kind on this stretch causes severe

And the rush hour compounds the problems.

The lorry was carrying tins of protein shake which in the fire

overheated and started exploding even after the fire

So there has had to be a major clear up operation.

Then the fire itself melted the tarmac and means that this

evening the Highways Agency will be resurfacing the damaged section.

The road is expected to fully reopen at around 10pm this evening,

at the moment two lanes are open and the gantry signs have been

warning of delays of over an hour, but the best advice is to avoid that

A firm has been fined ?600,000 after one of its sub-contractors hit

an 11,000 volt cable in Gloucester in 2015.

Steven Brown, from Swindon, was moving a traffic light

in Eastgate Street when he hit the live cable with a tool used

He suffered serious burns to his hands, face and arms and spent two

Today Amey LG Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety

legislation and said they have now changed their procedures.

The supervision on-site was below what would be expected for this kind

of work and they basically failed to manage the permit to dig system for

this activity which resulted in a failure to communicate and

Pupils at a primary school in Rugby were sent home and nearby homes

evacuated after a threat call was made to the police.

Officers with sniffer dogs were sent to check the premises

at Paddox Primary school and the pupils were sent to nearby

Police say the call was a hoax and no one was hurt.

I got a bit confused because I had no idea what was going on.

Lots of people crying for some reason.

Everyone was just going out different doors

and running around and stuff, didn't know what was happening.

In some areas they're called street pastors -

in Stoke on Trent, they're the chaplains...

Volunteers who patrol the streets at night helping people get home

after an evening out, as well as tackling homelessness

But now the council has asked the chaplains to go out

during the day as well, as part of a plan to

The street chaplains of Stoke on Trent have been a regular sight

in the city centre offering support to party goers at night but now

the chaplains are out and about in the day.

The police authorities roundabout have asked us

Compliants of aggressive begging and anti-spocial behaviour have

prompted the city council to extend the chaplain service

I think the issues we face are no different to any other

place or city in the country so what we are seeking to do,

the greatest asset Stoke-on-Trent have is the

people in its borders so we are a community group

and we seek to address some of those issues.

The chaplains are all volunteers are some people

said surely the job they

With police walking about, people feel

Without being disrespectful to the chaplains, they are doing a

wonderful job but do they have the authority?

The chaplains aren't experts or a replacement for official

authorities but try to offer a reassuring prescence, their

efforts have been applauded by former football manager

Lou Macari who's set up a night shelter in Stoke

We just want to do the same thing, help anyone get off the

streets, give them a glimmer of hope that that is some sort of future for

The extended chaplain scheme will run for a year offering

Thanks for joining us here on Midlands Today this evening.

Two people have died, a third's critical,

after a stabbing at a block of flats in Wolverhampton.

In football, there's growing pressure on Birmingham City

Andrew's last night as Blues lost to Wigan.

That's 11 defeats in 17 since he took over.

Better news for the weather. Sunshine might have been at a

premium to day but temperatures were above average but will it last for

the weekend? All the detail later. "I'm British, a Brummie

and a proud Muslim". The words of a young man who's

just returned from Iraq where he was carrying out aid

work for refugees. Waseem Iqbal is one of the few

aid workers who's been inside the besieged city of Mosul,

where he came under attack Our Special Correspondent Peter

Wilson has been to meet him and the charity he was working for,

which is based in Birmingham. Waseem Iqbal used to be a nightclub

bouncer now he's an aid worker just Waseem came under attack

from the so called Islamic I think to them that people who look

like me or do the job that they do are the biggest

threat for them. One of the few British aid workers

to get into Mosul he's been helping desperate civilians as the Iraqi

army tries to retake the city 3 million litres of water daily

inside. So it does take the whole day going backwards and forward and

sometimes you need to get right up close to that front line because the

people there are the most vulnerable. How dangerous was it for

you? What they do is attach crew needs to drones and fly them over.

We're on one side of the river and they are on the other. They fly them

over and pick a target. In that incident there were three bombs in

Knowing that her life will not be the same, she probably won't look

the same, she will not say again. It was such a shame to say how people's

lives can change in a split second. Sometimes you have been called a

terrorist yourself because of stereotypes? I have been called a

terrorist, bin Ladin, Isis, all sorts. I have had people refuse to

sit next to me on aeroplanes when I was in America. What do you think

the effect of all this is having on young people growing up in this part

of Birmingham? I sit with these kids all the time. Extremism is never an

issue, they all know that is something they want to stay far away

from. That is not to do with Islam. The problem around here is job

opportunities. Waseem wants to work

with young people But he's determined to go

back to Iraq and help Sometimes to save lives you have to

risk your own. I knew exactly what type of mission it was going to be.

I knew exactly what type of mission it was going to be.

The Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola has admitted he's

angry and embarrassed after his side lost last night for the 11th time

Blues have been sliding towards the relegation

zone since the Italian was appointed in December.

And they're not the only one of our teams who are struggling

Booed off by their own supporters these are worrying times

When Gary Rowett was sacked in December they were seventh

and only outside the playoffs on goal difference.

Last night's home defeat by Wigan leaves them 17th and just eight

Gianfranco Zola described the performance as unacceptable

to the club and the fans and it casts further doubt

I cannot understand why our team a few

days ago performs the way they perform and today we look like

sometimes we were childish in what we did so I am disappointed and

Wolves' goalless draw at Ipswich at least ended a five match losing

run in the league but it still leaves them just

a point and one place above the bottom three.

Burton Albion are three points clear of danger after their own stalemate

But this was a game lit up by the quality of Jackson Irvine's

superb equaliser for the Brewers who are now unbeaten in five.

Aston Villa's mini revival came unstuck at Huddersfield.

Villa should have been in front at half time but instead fell

to defeat when Tommy Smith scored the only goal.

So for the real bright spot we have to drop into League One

where Walsall are making a surge for the playoffs.

Scott Laird's goal gave them a sixth consecutive home win and moves

the Saddlers to within six points of the top six.

Gloucester Rugby club have spoken for the first time,

since they lost their head coach Laurie Fisher on Monday night.

They're hoping to announce a replacement head coach

Fisher took to twitter on Saturday following the team's late

capitulation against Harlequins, to say he'd had enough

He joined Gloucester in the summer of 2014 but there's been little

improvement on the field in that time.

Gloucestershire's Eddie the Eagle Edwards has returned

to the ski jump where he first made his name.

Here he is back in Calgary in Canada - where he rose to fame

The 53-year-old's furthest jump this time around,

though, was 24 metres - less than half the distance

Almost a hundred years ago, a very special football match

was played at the Edgar Street ground in Hereford.

Thousands turned out to see the women's football team play

from the local munitions factory at Rotherwas.

Relatives of the women still live in the area and they're

still passionate about the beautiful game, as Audrey Dias

I worked in unit three. A living lesson in history. These students

from Herefordshire are retracing the stories of the women munitions

workers of World War I. They risk their lives in a different way but

they were doing really dangerous work. It is brilliant to find out

about that. I think it is amazing that something so important is just

on your doorstep, Herefordshire is such a rich place historically.

The women were really on the front line here.

There were dealing with high explosive everyday, and

The chemicals they were using were very

They faced that on a daily basis, just like anyone on the front

More than 900,000 women stepped in to keep an industry going when the

men left to fight on the ward. The also substituted for them on the

football pitch. On Christmas Day 19 17,000 came here to watch a

thrilling local derby. The canteen team to con the arrivals from the

engineering staff and the beat them 1- nil. A footballing family tree

Pauline Hughes was very proud of, her grandmother and auntie were part

of the team. It is a recent thing for people to be playing. It was

quite something for us that my grandmother and auntie played

football because women did not do that at the time. We were very proud

and fascinated by it. A few years later women were banned from playing

at football league grounds but this lives on as a source of inspiration

to women today. Isn't that fascinating?

And you can hear regular updates about the munitions workers and BBC

Hereford and Worcester's campaign to get the women formal

recognition for their war work on their Breakfast programme.

So a distinctly milder feel to the temperatures today.

That is the big question. We will take a look in a moment but it was a

mixed picture today. In the south we started with cloud and rain which

eventually cleared. Most of the sunshine was in the North.

Eventually everyone got a slice of the action. Some gurus blue skies in

Shropshire. Temperatures responded and we reached highs of 14 Celsius

in Coventry. -- some glorious blue skies. We will save those values

halved by later on tonight but that is still good value for a night-time

temperature. We have a lot of cloud, holding those values up, just a few

breaks here and there with some this developing in the morning due to the

moisture and warmth. We keep the warmth in the morning. That is the

potential for temperatures to rise as the cloud breaks to reveal decent

spells of sunshine through the mid-morning until the end of the

afternoon. Again we may say why of 13 Celsius. We could even go higher

than this. Tomorrow night, we will sue the cloud thickening from the

south-west. It will produce light patchy rain on Friday morning.

Another a mild night. We take a look at that pressure on the pressure

chart, this ridge of high pressure pulls away to the east allowing for

a more mobile picture developing from the Atlantic at the weekend. A

ridge of high pressure develops on Saturday and more rain arriving from

the west on Sunday. This is how it looks for the weekend. Dry on

Friday. Patchy rain through the day, highs of 11 or 13 Celsius. Some dry

weather for the weekend and highs of 13 Celsius. Attach wetter on Sunday.

Thank you. -- attach wetter. Finally a blind footballer

and his guide dog, which he credits with saving him at a "very difficult

time", are up for a national award at Crufts, which gets under way

in Birmingham tomorrow. Nathan Edge said he'd given up

on life, but his dog, Hudson, The 22-year-old is now

studying massage therapy at The Royal National College

for the Blind in Hereford. Nathan's also part of the England

blind football development squad. Losing my sight at 19 and knowing

that I will never be able to see Having him by my side, even to give

me the confidence to step outside, Before I knew it we were travelling

all over the country, one year later we went abroad

together and he is my best friend. I am so grateful to have him

in my life because he has And we'll be reporting from Crufts

at the NEC on tomorrow's programme. I'll be back at ten

thirty with the latest Let's Sing And Dance exploded onto

our screens, setting the stage

alight...literally.