20/12/2016 Midlands Today

Tonight, Berlin's Brandenberg Gate is illuminated with the colours

There's been heightened security at Birmingham's German Christmas Market

following last night's terror attack at a similar market in Berlin.

12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured when a lorry

In Birmingham, armed police ringed the city's market,

Here's our special correspondent Peter Wilson.

The shutters were going up this morning, business as usual

at Birmingham's Christmas Market, the largest outside of Germany.

Stallholders and shoppers had a mood not of fear, but defiance.

My family have been trading in Birmingham for 100 years

so they've seen the Luftwaffe being here, the IRA bombing the city,

so my standpoint is...nothing would intimadate me.

Of course it's really sad about what happened but I think

you've just got to carry on with your life.

If you dwell on it too much and sit back and don't do anything,

you'll just become a social hermit and never go anywhere.

The security services were expecting an outrage somewhere in Europe

The terror attack in Berlin nearly claimed the life of this

A large truck came through, it went just past me,

past my girlfriend, I think it missed me by three metres,

missed her by five, it came through the entrance,

hit the sides of the barriers and then carried on past us.

Low-key and out of sight, police armed response teams

sat in their unmarked, blacked-out cars at strategic sites

One trader said the British police response was far better than those

I'm from Slovakia, I'm from here, and when we have the Christmas

market in our country, there's no security at all.

Maybe, like, two policeman for the whole thing,

so it's pretty good, yeah, I like it.

These reinforced concrete bollards are here to stop any vehicles

West Midlands Police say that they formed part

of the original safety plan and are not part of any

Every year, the city's German market has grown, now attracting

Such is the scale of this event that those who wish to make

a statement to create terror will also inevitably

Our reporter Bob Hockenhull is at the Christmas Market.

What was the atmosphere like there tonight?

It was very festive and relaxed and people were having a good time. Many

had come from outside the city to visit the market and they said any

act of terrorism wasn't going to put them off enjoying themselves.

Otherwise they've achieved what they've gone out to do.

I think everybody's going to have a level of concern

but at the end of the day, you can't live your life

They're just striking fear into people and we can't

So we've got to carry on and keep celebrating Christmas.

And with heightened security, how likely is an attack?

Tonight, the police have said that in view of the Berlin attacks, they

will be reviewing their tactics here on a daily basis. It is worth noting

that additional Bullard 's were placed before last night's charity

-- tragedy a few feet from where I'm standing now, but the police say

that was part of their overall plans here and wasn't in relation to any

specific intelligence related to Birmingham. One security expert we

spoke to earlier this evening said there's always a risk with markets

like this but it has to be put in perspective.

Driving your car is riskier, walking down the street.

Cycling in Birmingham is a much riskier activity.

I mean, statistically, you know, terrorism is way down

the list in terms of risk, so, yes, there's a heightened risk

but again, it's nice to see people are out tonight because we should

live our lives as normally as possible.

It's a cliche, but otherwise truly the terrorists have won.

The market has close tonight but market holders say they will carry

on as normal, opening at 10am tomorrow.

Detectives say they're no closer to solving the murder of a notorious

It comes after a coroner concluded that John "Goldfinger" Palmer

was unlawfully killed at his home in Essex last year.

He was shot six times at close range in a contract-style killing.

He got the nickname amidst rumours he'd melted down gold bullion

But speaking to reporters at the time in Tenerife,

where he was operating a time-share scam, he denied having

I'm completely innocent of any...thing to do with this

In June last year, shortly after these CCTV pictures

were taken, Palmer was shot six times at his home near

For days, police didn't realise he'd been murdered,

thinking he'd died as a result of gall bladder surgery he'd

recently undergone, a mistake they've since apologised for.

Today, an inquest into his death was held here in Chelmsford.

The coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, concluded that he'd

There was only one member of John Palmer's family present

at the inquest and that was a man called Ashley Thilthorpe.

He's the partner of John Palmer's daughter, and he's seen

here on the right, leaving the hearing with Detective Chief

DCI Jennings gave evidence and said the murder investigation is ongoing.

One problem detectives have is the sheer number of people

who might have had a motive to kill Palmer.

In relation to his full conviction in 2001, there were listed anything

Again, there could be 16,000 motives why he was killed just

And then of course his criminality involving Brink's Mat -

we know a number of people involved in that subsequent to that crime

taking place have now been either killed or have died,

so again, that was very much a consideration.

And Hatton Gardens as well - possible involvement there?

It was a line of inquiry we know that John had associated in the past

with some of the people responsible for that crime who

Police say someone involved in the criminal underworld knows

who killed John Palmer and after today's inquest,

officers renewed their appeal for anyone with information

A highly respected doctor and an NHS manager have received a two-year

suspended prison sentence for defrauding the NHS out

Dr Ian Walton, from Womborne near Wolverhampton, and Lisa Hill,

from Hagley, admitted raising a false invoice from a charity

They then diverted the money, which had been set aside

to cover winter pressures, into the bank account of a private

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, says he'll look into proposals

which could lead to the closure of one of the Accident Emergency

Health chiefs are looking at shutting the unit at either

Stafford, Stoke or Burton as part of an efficiency drive.

They say any specific areas of their plans will go out

to public consultation, with decisions not being taken

Looking after your farm can be difficult, especially if you're

But one farm in Shropshire has come up with an unusual new way

to protect its stock of Christmas trees.

Meet Bill, Morse and Lewis, one alpaca and two llamas

They've just been appointed for guard-dog duties,

and while Bill the alpaca is placid, Morse and Lewis are more

During the daytime they're very, very chilled-out.

You wouldn't have any sort of problem off them.

But at night-time, if they did catch you, you're likely to get spat at,

which is particularly disgusting, and then also the potential to be

The idea's been imported from South Africa, where it's quite

common for llamas like Lewis and Morse to be guard llamas.

I wouldn't like to...come into the yard of a night-time

and see a llama facing me, would you?

I think that's really unusual, actually!

Especially bumping into that dark brown one!

The farm wants their stock of Christmas trees protecting,

and weighing around 13 stone and being six-feet tall with good

eyesight and hearing, Morse and Lewis have

Ultimately, Christmas trees are very, very valuable at this

time of year and very, very sought-after by the right

and the wrong people, so, yeah, they're making sure

During daytime hours, Lewis and Morse lead

pretty much a dog's life, and it looks like now the same can

I'll leave you with the latest weather forecast from Wendy Hurrell.

We're starting to lose some of the clear sky out there.

We'll be quite well enveloped by cloud throughout tonight but it

really has been a beautiful, crisp winter's day, hasn't it?

Right across the region, captured as usual by our Weather Watchers,

and even this evening, the sun was shining strongly

A bit more sunshine through this week but there's lots more going on,

most particularly Storm Barbara towards the end of the week.

It's going to be turning really quite windy.

But going back to the here and now, we've got the cloud starting to edge

in at the moment and it will bring with it some light outbreaks of rain

It was a cold start to the night so temperatures might rise a little

bit as that rain comes through and then fall back down

again, so between three and four degrees as we start

But you will be going off to work with dry, bright conditions.

The next band of rain will come through the middle part of the day

towards lunchtime and this one may bring with it something a bit

Temperatures are in double figures but I think as the rain goes

through and any wind, it will be feeling

A cold night follows on and then it returns blustery

And if you're making any travel plans, you'll need

the national forecast tonight, with Tomasz Schafernaker.

making a journey elsewhere in the country it's worth knowing the

national forecast. Over now to Tomasz.

So, the weather's going to blow a few cobwebs away in the coming days

and maybe a few other things, as well. How stormy is it going to get?

For most of us probably not too terrible. It is, however, going to

be very nasty across parts of Scotland on Friday. The clouds are

racing across the Atlantic and we will see a storm by the time we get

to around about Friday and then Friday night.

At the moment we have a weather front crossing the country, we have

had dreadful weather in the north-west, it was cold and raining

in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. This band of rain will be

somewhere here