24/04/2017 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. Six, so it's goodbye from me -

The headlines tonight: Sent to jail for manslaughter -

the parents of a 13-month-old who drowned after being left alone

At the point I saw them smoking in the garden, the baby must have been

on the password was quite for me. -- in the bass. Bath.

Also tonight: The bonus of a legacy - Lichfield Cathedral is given

I've always been a fan of Turner's since I was a boy. You can now get

on-board entertainment on a train. The lesser spotted Gabby goal -

substitute Agbonlahor gets the winner for Villa

against Birmingham City And it may be the final

week of April but it A colder feel, blustery winds

and even the talk of snow. If you can bear to hear

the details, join me later. The parents of a 13-month-old boy

from Worcestershire, who drowned in the bath,

have both been jailed The court heard that Kian Dale had

been left unattended for up to 13 minutes,

while Wayne Dale and Lisa Passey They were both found

guilty of manslaughter - Wayne Dale was jailed for 4.5 years,

Lisa Passey for four years. In the quiet Worcestershire

town of Tenbury Wells, they were a familiar sight

on the High Street. Everyone thought they

were good parents. I just thought they were normal,

responsible parents because he always had the kid

on his shoulders going around town and she would be

pushing a pushchair. Maria Fernandez was a neighbour

who often spoke to the couple. She was at home

on the day Kian died. I saw them in the garden

so at the point I was seeing them the baby must have been in the bath,

so it was about shocking for me That the baby was over

there and I couldn't do anything. The court heard that

that Saturday tea-time, screaming with his lifeless baby son

in his arms and found him lying at the back of the baby

seat it in the bath, A retired nurse living a few doors

up came to try and resuscitate Kian The air ambulance landed

in the school playing fields opposite and Kian was taken

to Birmingham Children's Hospital The case rested on the amount

of time that Kian had been in the bath and we identified

a period of up to 30 minutes. We worked that out from witness

testimony and we also identified that Wayne had used a computer

whilst Kian was in the bath so we analysed that computer on that

computer gave us certain evidence around how it had been used

during that period of time. This was where Passey and Dale had

been entertaining a friend, Bath seats can give

you a false sense of security. They enable you to back your child

without keeping hold of them at all times,

and that's maybe where the problem arises, parents think their child

is securely supported in the bath, that they're not going to slip under

the water, but as this tragic case highlights,

that can still happen and in fact it's not the first time that we've

heard of a child falling out News of Kian's parents' conviction

has divided this country town. It's pretty defenceless at that

age, so no, I'm afraid During her trial, Lisa Passey said

she didn't want pity. She admitted she'd been

stupid not to have gone I think it's going to have a big

effect on her mentally The guilt is going to

be deadly, I think. I don't know how she would feel,

but I wouldn't be able It's one big, giant

mistake, isn't it? A 21-year-old woman has been

arrested in Birmingham, on suspicion of preparing

for terrorism acts. The West Midlands Counterterrorism

Unit say it's part of an on-going investigation, today's actions

were pre-planned and there was no And there is major

traffic disruption The carriageway is closed in both

directions between J15 and 16 and at junction 3A of M42 due

to an ongoing police incident. Diversions are in place but drivers

are being warned of long delays. It's the dream of anyone

who is challenged with the big bills which come with an historic building

- being left a valuable work of art. That's what's happened

to Lichfield Cathedral - it's been given a painting

by the world renowned After spending two centuries

in private hands, the watercolour The bequest is the star attraction

in an exhibition of artworks, Painted by Turner in 1832,

this watercolour hasn't been seen collection and has been bequeathed

to Lichfield Cathedral. If you know Lichfield,

you will know this scene because this is Minsterpol,

but we also know it is his own because it is in his

own perspective. That's a characteristic of his,

he moved to capture light, so every pilgrim to the cathedral

will have seen it for 1,300 years, Alongside the painting

are Turner's sketches, many of which he did as a young man

before he completed These possibly haven't been along

with the final watercolour piece, that's quite special,

to have the opportunity to stand and look at where possibly the last

person who saw them all together The three spires of Lichfield

Cathedral have inspired artists for centuries and alongside

the pitched by Turner, there are paintings from other

artists who captured this building's distinctive and awe-inspiring

architecture. Every artist has seen the cathedral

with their own image and evolve It's that kind of domination

and that kind of, like, wow factor, that impact,

that is inspiring. I've always been a great fan

of Turner since I was a boy The exhibition is free and is open

daily for the next six weeks. It's a rare chance to see

a collection of paintings celebrating one of the Midlands'

most magnificent buildings. And Liz is at Lichfield

Cathedral for us now. So the Turner painting

has been presented to A very generous legacy, exciting for

art lovers and for the Cathedral. The plan is once this exhibition has

finished, the painting will be sold with the proceeds going towards the

Cathedral's work. It's really difficult to estimate what this

painting might fetch. It is likely to be of interest both to museums,

but also to wealthy private collectors and that is why this

exhibition is a great opportunity for people to come and see this

masterpiece for themselves, because once the painting has been sold,

there are no guarantees that it will stay on public display.

A new service to support stalking victims in Gloucestershire has been

set up in memory of a woman who was murdered

20-year-old Hollie Gazzard was stabbed to death

The new service will offer victims access to a dedicated caseworker,

In February 2014, Hollie Gazzard complained to police that her former

boyfriend was harassing and stalking her.

Now the trust set up in her name, headed by her dad Nick,

wants to stop that happening to others and is paying for a case

worker to help high-risk victims of stalking.

Early intervention, looking at behaviours,

not just actions but intentions, even the small elements of stalking

can lead further down the line to rape and homicides we must take

it seriously and get professionals clued up as to what to do,

get the police clued up, in terms of stalking and ready

to deal with high-risk stalkers and provide that support to victims

to make sure they don't go through a life of hell.

Awareness of the new support available is key to this project

and will involve the likes of the police, clinicians

and probation who will all identify victims and perpetrators.

Ellie is a Gloucestershire GP who was stalked for nine years.

No one should have to go through nine years of living in fear

and not knowing where to go, who to go to, how to

This is going to put experts here in Gloucestershire who will be

Today's launch comes on the day the University of Gloucester publish

research showing 94% of homicides had elements

of stalking such as possession, control and surveillance and often

I've worked in cases where there have been cameras

in the home that the person didn't know about, there has

been GPS tracking, that is tracking on the car,

There are all really serious stalking behaviours.

Stalking is a growing problem with easy access to online data

This new support clinic wants to make sure that anyone who feels

threatened now has the confidence to ask for help in the knowledge

Thanks for joining us on Midlands Today.

We'll have your detailed weather forecast shortly -

something more like winter than spring on the way.

Also in tonight's programme: A marathon effort -

the man who was told he'd never walk again after breaking his spine

And how paddling our waterways turned into a journey of discovery

If you're a regular train traveller, you'll appreciate having

London Midland is joining other train companies by offering just

that and something else - on-board entertainment,

It's hoped it will be available on 70% of our trains

Here's our transport correspondent Peter Plisner.

Fancy watching a blockbuster movie next time you're on the train?

Now you can and although it's only a limited selection, in the future

Passengers we spoke to this morning seem to like the idea.

There are cartoons on there which is handy when you. . Yeah, it's good

but they could have a bit more on there.

The entertainment firm behind the new system says there's

Of course, Virgin Trains was the first to have

14 years ago, its new Pendolino trains had an Audi system,

-- audio system, but this morning when I tried

-- audio system, but this morning when I tried to plug in, the sockets

and the entertainment seemed to have vanished.

But for people who just want to work, free Wi-Fi

But if you've used online Wi-Fi systems on trains before you how

slow they can be but this promises to be different because a lot of the

content people will be watching is already on board the train on a

special server. But London Midland is pretty late

in the game with on board Wi-Fi. Virgin Trains has had it for years,

but it's only free in First class. It's a similar picture on board

with Cross Country trains. Both Chiltern Railways

and Arriva Trains Wales allows free Until now it has not been an option

for us and we have had to concentrate on other parts of the

business but now was the time where we been able to take a step ahead of

the traditional author of Wi-Fi. It's free and first class and

standard class and you get the entertainment as well at no extra

cost. The new train entertainment

system go live officially from tomorrow and it's available

on all London Midland long distance routes and some local services

including all trains Let's start with the derby game

at Villa Park on Sunday. Yes, Gabby Agbonlahor is a folk hero

across one half of Birmingham. But he's not exactly top of the pops

in the other half of the city. The Villa striker loves

scoring against the Blues. And his winning goal leaves

Harry Redknapp only two points clear of relegation,

with two games left to play. Ian Winter reports

on the day Harry met Gabby. You Couldn't Make it up productions

are proud to present Harry was 70, an East Ender

on his first date at the second Gabby was 30, an experienced

Brummie with claret I just saw Gabby walk-through at

half past eight this morning which doesn't happen often so he has done

everything he can to be involved. After all, it was ten

years since his first But 14 months since his last

goal against anybody. He came on with half an hour left,

and got a warm welcome from his old team-mate Craig

Gardner. He wasted no time in

making his presence felt. First, a little tussle

with Ryan Shotton. And then, only nine minutes

after coming on, Gabby rifled His fifth against the Blues to put

the Villa fans on cloud nine. No question who was their man of

the match, for his cameo appearance. That will keep him happy

here for another year. Blues' best chance had fallen

to Che Adams in the first half. Because with only two games left,

at home to Huddersfield and away to Bristol City,

they're only two points above the trapdoor that

drops into League One. At least both sets of fans

were united by their heartfelt But will there be a sequel

of When Harry Met Gabby next season. Or will they be heading

in different directions, So the Blues under massive pressure

now down at the bottom. I think that's probably the

achievement of any team in the championship this season. They beat

Leeds United on Saturday. They need one more point to be guaranteed a

place in the championship next season although they have probably

already done enough. A different story for portrayal, they're in the

relegation zone. They lost 2-0 at home to Bolton

in a game which was also marred by a pitch invasion involving both

sets of fans. Shrewsbury got a vital 1-0 win

at home to Southend to pull Tomorrow night Vale at Walsall

and must get at least a draw Coventry beat Walsall 1-0

on Saturday but of course And congratulation to Jessica Parker

of Birmingham City Ladies. She's been voted the PFA

Young Women's player of the year. In Rugby Union Gloucester

have a European final A remarkable team performance

to win away at La Rochelle They won 16-14 with Billy Burns

scoring all of their points La Rochelle hadn't lost at home

all season so a tremendous They'll play Stade Francais

in the final on May 12th. And an Olympic bronze medal for

Birchfield Harrier Kelly Sotherton, This concerns the heptathlon in

Beijing, 2008. Sotherton is now a coach,

but she finished fourth. Russia's Tatiana Chernova was third

has been disqualified for failing So Kelly has been

promoted to the bronze. And we've had plenty of remarkable

athletic performances of a different kind from yesterday's London

Marathon. Among them was Steven Smith

from Wellesbourne. He broke his spine in 2011

and was told at the time But he completed the course

yesterday in nine He may have been deciding

on which horse to back at Warwick racecourse this afternoon,

but Steven Smith Yesterday, despite being told

he would never walk again, he completed the London Marathon

in nine hours, 17 minutes. You go up towards Buckingham Palace

then you see this sign, "385 yards to go", and that

must be the longest 385 It seemed to take an hour but it

probably took a minute. Once I got to finishing line,

it was just relief. Steven from Stratford

broke his spine in 2011 after jumping from a window

at his French holiday home By completing a marathon,

he has raised ?70,000 Even more remarkable,

considering he only managed Most people go through what I went

through would have been paralysed completely but I wasn't so I felt

if I could raise money for this wonderful charity that is doing

research into the cure for paralysis A fantastic achievement from Steven

and he was one of many We can't mention them

all, but here's a few. Congratulations to Coventry's Kare

Adenegan on winning the under 17s Herefordshire postman

Mike Chandler clocked up his 17th While Sutton Coldfield running

convert Lucy Edwards, who lost her sight four years ago,

successfully completed West Midlands constable Scott Davies

raised thousands for police And last, but not least,

well done to 80-year-old He's one of the few to have run

all 37 London Marathons, but has decided this year's will be

the final one. Congratulations to

everyone who took part. And, of course, Birmingham's due

to host its first international marathon on the 15th

of October this year. 7,000 people have already signed up,

if you're feeling inspired. But if you're worried

about managing the whole distance. There's a half marathon taking place

on the same day as well. I did it back in 2008 when it was

all fields! I think it has changed a bit!

How well do you know the network of canals

When the former Gardener's World Presenter Alys Fowler,

started paddling the canals of Birmingham, it became a journey

Our arts reporter Satnam Rana has been to meet her.

She made her name on the BBC's Gardner's World, but Alys Fowler's

latest project has taken her to the canals of Birmingham.

A bag of air, a puff of breath and Alys Fowler is away,

paddling off in her blow up pack raft.

You do get this lovely lapping of the water and you really calmed

down, cos you can't go fast in the sport so you really slow down, your

thought process slows down and you start to realise that at all sorts

of details. In 2015 she took to the network

of waterways in her adopted city I was looking to explore somewhere

and I had all these ideas that maybe I could cycle around the whole of

Birmingham, around the edge, any friend of mine said why don't you

try and paddle all the canals in Birmingham? There are more canals

here than in Venice so it seemed like a good idea even though I knew

nothing about the canals. And so a voyage of

discovery was under way. This is one of my favourite

stretches because on the right-hand side, there is this thicket of birch

and it's always full of wildlife then on the left-hand side, you've

got this huge booming factory that makes these incredible clanking

noises and nothing says Birmingham canals get to me than this funny

marriage of urban wilderness and industry.

Now Alys is sharing her journey and findings in a new book

called Hidden Nature - Voyage Of Discovery.

Along the way, she realised she was gay and ended her marriage

I was essentially, strangely of all places, on the canals when I worked

out that I really needed to come out and that was a funny, unexpected

turn. Thanks the watery world of canals,

Alys has come to know that she loves If you think it's chilly today,

just wait for what Shefali She's on the balcony

with the details. It's better out there! -- bit of out

here. Look how the day transformed. They were thick clouds looming

across Birmingham a few hours ago. The cloud produced some rain by the

time it got to the south but when it cleared in the north, it was bright

and dry. Once this front has cleared, which will be in the next

hour or so, that will open up the doorway to much colder conditions

through the middle part of the week but then things start to recover

once we get to Friday and into the bank holiday weekend but I can't

promise completely dry weather and Stilley? Over Sunday and bank

holiday Monday, but let's take a look at the pressure chart. The

pressure is sitting across the English Channel so there is a nice

patch of clear sky over the Midlands and that is producing glorious

sunshine but by the time we get to tonight, the temperatures will

tumble away once it turns dark and they could fall to near freezing in

the countryside and that will produce a touch of frost but with

the winds increasing, most of that frost should be kept at bay. I think

we will see showers in the early hours and some of those could be on

the wintry side. We start in Central and southern parts with lots of

sunshine and dry weather, temperatures rising to around eight

to 11 Celsius but that is purely academic in the wind which will cost

to around 40 mph and a showers will develop widely and some of those

could contain some hail, some thunder even and some snow as well.

The wind will pick up on the temperatures will drop but those

showers will rattle and Rumble into tomorrow night and should fade into

the early hours. We have a small amount of them on Thursday and

Friday with some rain and temperatures picking up.

If you'd like to keep in touch with stories

from across the region between our programmes, you can.

Just go online or take a look at our Facebook page.

You'll find a new film about some of the swimmers who use

Despite efforts to save the Grade II Edwardian pool from closure,

it'll shut its doors when a new pool opens in Sparkhill in the summer.

But the Moseley Shoals, an LGBT group who've swum

there for the past 17 years, say it'll be much missed.

I'm really sorry to see it go because I think it is a very

important, historic building. It's still a lovely place to swim if you

come on a nice day like this with the light streaming in. It's not

like other pools. I'll be very sorry to see it go.

I'll be back with your late news at 10:30.

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