10/05/2017 Midlands Today

The headlines tonight: Six, so it's goodbye from me -

"Our world has been torn apart" - the words

of the parents of 11-year-old Evha Jannath, who died

after falling from a water ride at Drayton Manor theme park.

She was a lovely sweet natured girl, she was loved by everyone at the

school. As a school and community, we are trying to make sense of this

terrible tragedy. We will have the latest from Drayton Manor and the

latest on the investigation. Also tonight, social

media sites being used to glorify gang violence -

and share tips on stealing cars. The dad who delivered -

parents forced to have a home birth, because Ludlow maternity unit

was closed . We got lucky this time because a lot

of new mothers out there might not make it and have a happy ending.

Saved from crumbling into history, the remains of a Herefordshire

castle which has stood for nearly a thousand years.

And the mercury shot up to 19 Celsius at Gloucester today.

There's more to come this week but say goodbye this.

Finally, we have some rain on the way.

The words of the family of Evha Jannath - the 11-year-old

girl who died after falling from a water ride, at Drayton Manor

Evha was on a school trip yesterday, when she fell out of a boat

Our reporter Sarah Bishop is at Drayton Manor.

Sarah, the park remained closed today.

Yes, such a perfect day today, you can imagine it would have been

hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren eager to come here to

Drayton Manor to sample the rights. Everything is at a standstill, it is

like the plug has been pulled, it has been closed today as a mark of

respect. Full of love and always smiling,

the words of Evha's parents. The theme park she had come

to on a school trip closed today Quite how the 11-year-old came to be

thrown into the water on the splash Canyon is now under investigation

by the Health and Safety Executive witnesses have described how

they think they saw her momentarily stand-up to switch seats

when she was jettisoned overboard. At the school in Leicester,

a private Muslim school for girls, She was a lovely sweet natured

girl and she was loved As a school and community,

we are trying to make sense Our thoughts and prayers

are with Evha's family at this 13-year-old Patrick from Rugby fell

into the water on the same Thankfully a member of the public

pulled him to safety. I was waiting for Patrick to come

round and I saw other boats with children aged four

or five and each time they were knocked off their seats

onto the floor of the boat and the parents were grabbing them

to get them back their seats again and a simple lap belt would tell

a child I'm not Staff at Drayton Manor have been

offered counselling and invited to sign a book of condolence

in the parish church. As a parent you will naturally think

that could have been my child so there is a degree of empathy

with the family but to a certain extent we cannot begin

to imagine what her family We can stand in

solidarity with them. Evha's parents said

in a statement... Sarah, what's the latest

with the investigation into finding We have had no more statements or

information from Drayton Park management today but the

investigation is being led by Staffordshire Police in conjunction

with the Health and Safety Executive was of the police is to look to see

if there is any degree of criminality or culpability.

Presumably they will be looking for whether or not Evha was standing on

the craft at the time of the accident. There will also be looking

at supervision. When will the park reopened? We have been waiting all

day for word from the management here but still we have no idea but

what we are hearing from Alton Towers up the roads to the north

Staffordshire is they are shutting their water right, the Congo River

rapids ride is shut from tomorrow as a precautionary measure and it will

be closed until such time they say as more details of the incident here

at Drayton Manor become available. Detectives say that social media

sites are being used to glorify gang violence and even share tips on how

to steal people's cars. The warnings come after a recent

upsurge of crimes in the south of Birmingham, including

shootings and burglaries. One parent told our special

correspondent, Peter Wilson, that she feared speaking out

because her teenagers would be The videos posted online

are professional with high production values but the baselines

are dark and threatening - lyrics allegedly inciting violence

and threats to rival gangs. The police have been

watching closely - five teenagers this week arrested

as part of an ongoing investigation But it's not just online -

a mini crimewave has Across South Birmingham,

a spate of shootings involving shotguns and handguns and random

acts of violence. Less than two weeks ago,

a 29-year-old man was walking along this road when two cars

pulled up men jumped out In Bartley Green one young mum

told me she feared speaking out in case the gangs would kick

down her front door. They are fighting for starters. They

bring knives out, actually. It does frighten you. There is nothing going

on here, the pubs on Fridays is for the over 18 is, for the under 18 is

they are lost so they're trying to get a name for themselves.

The police say they understand the fears

Over the past week we have arrested ten individuals,

three of whom have been charged recently working with my team

investigating from CID but also we stepped up patrols in the local

area, we have engaged with the local policing colleagues to try and get

Last week six teenagers were jailed for car jacking offences -

many used social media sites to boast of their crimes.

One city councillor says the community has had enough.

Residents want action, there has been enough meetings about this. We

have to look on social media about posts being made by local gangs

challenging each other, there is enough of the police to take action.

Two years ago, a knife fight left one teenager dead

Northfield was enjoying the sunshine today, one church is using social

media to spread a positive message about young people who're helping

This isn't the area we know and actually at the time there

was a hashtag which we developed which did the rounds on social

media, we are Northfield which was to reaffirm

and re-establish the positive stuff that goes on in the area.

What concerns the police is the age range of those they're

investigating 14 to 17-year-olds risking their own and other

Six pupils have been treated in hospital after being exposed

to a chemical leak, at a school in Birmingham.

It happened this morning at Four Dwellings Academy in Quniton.

The teenagers, along with their teacher, developed

breathing difficulties - after a bottle of Bromine

Their condition is not believed to be serious.

A man's been charged with ten counts of arson,

after a spate of fires on grassland in Rugeley in Staffordshire.

51-year-old Gary Ball, from Burntwood, will appear before

More than 100 fires have been reported in the area since March.

An Afghan interpreter, who fought alongside British troops

against the Taliban, has been granted

Javed Hotak told Midlands Today in February that he'd been forced

to live illegally in the city, after his initial request failed.

The Home Office refused to accept it was dangerous for him to go home

Yesterday he learnt a fresh application had been successful.

A father from Shropshire has spoken of his shock at having

to deliver his baby daughter at home - because their local maternity unit

in Ludlow was closed - due to staff shortages.

Amelie made her dramatic arrival at the weekend.

A very fast labour meant there was no time to get

to the nearest open midwifery unit, 20 mild away in Bridgnorth.

So Dad had no choice, but to turn midwife himself.

Oblivious to her dramatic entry into the world,

Amelie was born at home on Sunday just before

If we go, we're not going to get there so we are going to have

Mum Alison and dad Mark had plans to give birth

at Ludlow midwifery led unit, a facility Alison has been

campaigning to keep in the Shropshire market town.

The unit was temporary closed this weekend and the next place

Half an hour in a car, contractions every three minutes,

we were not going to make it so it was a case of call that off

We just had to go with it, we are going to have to do it.

The unit based at Ludlow community hospital is one of several rural

midwifery services under review across Shropshire.

In a statement, the NHS trust says...

The head of midwifery at the trust has said sorry to Mr and Mrs Hiles

that they could not give birth to their daughter

She also says she will meeting to discuss their concerns.

Mark and Alison are grateful that Amelie arrived safely

but they are concerned it might not be the same for others.

A lot of new mothers out there might not make it

With just a month to go until the General Election,

the West Midlands is emerging as one of the most hotly-contested

Its clusters of marginal seats, often swing back

and forth between Labour and the Conservatives.

A succession of senior politicians have already beaten a path

Here's our Political Editor Patrick Burns.

Where once they built the firefighters in Erdington,

they now make Jaguar cars, one reason why the Midlands

is the only UK region running a trade surplus with China.

But if having a prize business asset like that on its doorstep really

does much for Erdington itself, there was precious little evidence

of it in and around the high street, one of the most deprived

constituencies in Britain, 63% of the electorate voted

And to many voters here, there is no doubt about

Now we know it is going to go ahead and we have a date.

I think we should have more say in government.

And you think that a bigger issue than the other issues?

Election last week of the Conservative Midlands Metro Mayor

sent out the clearest signal yet that some old political

Walsall has two marginal Labour constituencies

Those of us with long memories recalled Margaret Thatcher

telling her supporters 30 years ago they still had to win

All but one of Birmingham's ten constituencies are

This time though Erdington is one of at least four seats in the city

where the Conservatives reckon they are in with a chance.

It is also where Theresa May's Joint Chiefs of Staff Mick Timothy grew up

so Erdington is also code of those ordinary working people

More jobs, more living accommodation.

And more apprenticeships for training young people.

There are to many people being wasted.

The way the NHS is going, that is another big problem.

So it is not mainly about Brexit for you?

You can see Birmingham's changing skyline from out here,

one of Britain's business hotspots but which party has the best plan

to drive all that economic energy towards the places barely three

Forget Middle England, it is in the city you will find

And Patrick joins us now overlooking Birmingham.

We're not used to Erdington being at the centre of an election

From the roof of Fort Dunlop that looks like one of those places

people drive by without registering hundreds of thousands of them every

day on the behind me but the politicians will be stopping off

here over the next few weeks, Labour have 5000 majority to defend. There

has not been a Conservative MP here since before the Second World War

that now they need a swing of just over 7%. The news Ukip have named

this among three North Birmingham constituencies where they will not

be standing this time, raises hopes for conservatives they will pick up

at least a decent share of the 6000 or so people who voted for Ukip last

time around at Labour stress in those metro mayoral elections last

week their share of the vote in Birmingham did go up overall

compared with their performance in the general election last time.

What are the other seats to look out for?

If the electoral front line is shifting into the inner cities then

Coventry South, Wolverhampton South West, Stoke South will be places to

look at, if the Ukip vote is collapsing, big question is where

exactly does that go but Labour will have their sights on Telford, a

swing of under 2% in a town which is at the sharp end of the great

tug-of-war over hospitals and drop shot.

And what about a Liberal Democrat bounceback -

Cheltenham is the Liberal Democrats key target seat here but if you look

at last weeks county council elections in Gloucestershire they

went in with 14 councillors and they came out of the elections with 14.

That is not exactly a bounce. Patrick, thank you.

And for all the information about the general election

where you live, take a look at the bbc election 2017 website.

Thanks for joining us on Midlands Today,

after a glorious day - will there be more of the same

or rain on the way - Shefali can give us a hint.

Yes, there's rain on the way sadly, you'll have to wave goodbye

A stunning selection of the photos from our weather watchers capturing

It was a beauty and in the south of region temperatures hit the giddy

More on that rain though later - dribs, drabs or downpours.

If you're a regular train user, how would you fancy sharing

That could become a reality, if a new train carriage

being launched in the Midlands, gets the go-ahead.

The concept involves collapsible seats and tables -

which can make space for small items of freight.

It's claimed the idea could help reduce the number

Here's our Transport Correspondent, Peter Plisner.

The new adapable carriage concept being previewed at a major rail

event at the national exhibition centre today.

This speeded up film shows how part of a passenger carriage can be

converted to create space for freight in just three minutes.

So at the terminus station, the guard would walk

through the carriage, make sure there is nothing left

on the seat and then leave the carriage, locked the doors

and outside there will be a key system to enable

With our roads full of lorries often carrying small parcels the idea

is to create a network of routes across the country where once again

But hang on - isn't our rail network overcrowded with passengers already?

That's certainly the case at PEAK TIMES - but this new concept

is design to utilise space when the rail network isn't as busy

But industry observers getting their first glimpse

of the new system today remain pretty sceptical.

The lorries go from hub to hub, this would involve setting up

new hubs mainline stations, you would also have the trains

You have to reconfigure it, someone has to move the seats along,

the seats will not be as good as custom seats.

Inventors do say though that carrying freight this will bring

new money into the railways - which could be used to minimise

That would allow the train operating companies to run a more efficient

service and to invest some of that income back and either keep

passenger rises to a minimum or to invest in the infrastructure

It's not the first time first time small packages have been carried

Remember the days when red star parcel operated

It's more a case of history repeating itself.

The BBC understands a deal could be close for Harry Redknapp to carry

Redknapp took charge of the final three games of this season,

winning two of them - and saving the Blues

Negotiations are continuing with the club's owners

and an announcement is possible before the end of the week.

A student from Staffordshire, who was paralysed in a cycling

accident, has achieved a personal goal by learning to scuba dive.

Samuel Asbury, from Norton Canes, broke his spine when he was 14.

He's now working on his Ocean Diver pool training - with the aim

Learning to scuba dive - a new lease of life for Samuel Asbury.

Eight years ago he lost the use of his legs

On one of the hills we went down, there was a sharp right-hand turn

and I pulled the brakes but the cord snapped so I actually ended up

going into the ditch and flipping over and hitting a tree.

I don't think I'll ever get used to it really.

I still get times when I'm just, like, why, why me?

For such an active teenager, it was a huge blow.

I used to free run, jump off buildings and do backflips

But scuba diving is helping Samuel come to terms with being paralysed.

He started training at Burntwood Recreation Centre this year -

when he's qualified he plans to travel the world with his dad

I like being underwater, there's a sense of calm about it,

everything is quiet and all you focus on down there

I like that, the peace of it but I'm also a pretty big fan of history

so I like the fact I can dive with shipwreck.

Samuel has previously attempted to get in the Para

But is now content to dedicate himself to his

It's stood over Herefordshire's glorious Golden Valley

But after decades of neglect, Snodhill Castle looked as though it

would disappear from the landscape, as it slowly crumbled to the ground.

Now, thanks to a determined group of villagers, the castle -

built just after the Norman Conquest - is to be saved.

Snodhill - one of the largest Norman castles ever built.

It survived ancient battles but 20th century neglect nearly made this

historic building vanish forever - until villager Vegetation

In 1997 a huge chunk of all fell down and you would find bits of

stone that had come off so he could see it was deteriorating before your

eyes. Vegetation had taken hold. The 11th century castle became

totally obscured much to the upset of local residents who even held

parties here 30 years ago. They've now formed

a preservation trust. I feel we are honouring the people

who built this place by looking In 30 years' time, it

would be its thousandth anniversary we do not know much about who built

it but I think we owe it to them to preserve it

and maintain it for the future. Historic England has donated nearly

half ?1 million to repair Experts believe it will help unlock

secrets from the past. Every time we open up the trench,

something new and exciting is always being discovered here and the locals

are so on-board and so excited to get something done with this

place and to get it safe. The marchers between England

and Wales one of the most heavily defended border areas in Europe

and Snodhill castle is a key castle in a key area on a key route

in that system of defence. In the autumn when the renovation

work has been completed, and the site has been made safe,

the public will be able to visit the castle, a monument that

could easily have been lost to the nation had it not been

for the determination A glorious day, Shefali is making

the most of the evening It is on the way but not yet for

which I'm grateful. It will become the next not so distant future.

Today marks the end of the current dry spell and tonight is the last of

the frosty nights for a while. What a sensational day it was today from

one end of the region to the other are bursting with sunshine, you just

had to soak it all in. Temperatures reached a glorious 19 Celsius at

Gloucester and elsewhere are nice crop of 17s. For the next few days

come although we gain the rain we will not lose the war, we may gain

some humidity as well or though it will be breezy. If we look at the

pressure chart, the jet stream will be pushing up low pressure from the

South bringing in more unsettled conditions. It will be breezy and

humid. After that it starts to freshen up and some sunshine at the

weekend in between the showers. Back to tonight and a cool one, pleasant

spells of sunshine around off the day and cooling down and clearer

skies once it turns dark and temp just dropping to a of five Celsius.

The towns and cities but near freezing in the countryside so here

we could see a touch of grass frost into the morning before the cloud

thickens up. Elsewhere, temperatures holding up to six or seven Celsius.

Tomorrow morning, a fairly dry start across northern and central parts

and in the south some sunny spells and decent spells of sunshine to

begin the day but then cloud thickens up all substantially from

the South Rooney and a clutch of showers mostly light but there could

be the odd thundery and heavy one as well but localised because it is

showering. Tomorrow night, the showers do not make much progress

further north so really the south of the region that will be affected but

tomorrow's temperatures up to 19 Celsius is still quite warm and more

humid as well. The outlook, Friday will be more widespread substantial

downpours, fairly localised with showers into the weekend. Looking

good for the start of the Mull Vernor show. See you then. Goodbye.

RADIO: 'The UK has voted to leave the European Union by 52% to 48.

'UKIP leader Nigel Farage celebrated the result,