25/01/2017 Midlands Today

There are claims that large numbers of officers at Birmingham Prison

have been leaving their jobs, or going sick, because of increasing

Last month inmates rioted, gaining control over four wings,

starting fires and causing damage estimated at more than ?2 million.

Two separate investigations continue into what happened.

Here's our Special Correspondent, Peter Wilson.

Birmingham prison is one of the oldest in the country.

Last month saw the worst riots and disturbances

Prison Officers sprayed with fire hoses, missiles and paint.

The former chairman of the Prison Officers'

claims the riot was a timebomb waiting to go off.

The levels of violence that happen in that prison every day

I have seen staff badly assaulted, I've seen staff assaulted

to the point they no longer wish to come back to work.

That whole L-shaped block was quite soon under control of prisoners.

He'd worked at Birmingham prison for 30 years and claims cuts

in prison staff numbers was a factor in last month's riot.

Because of the lack of opportunity to go to the gym,

because of staff shortages, staff absences, staff illnesses,

facilities were put on the wings, weightlifting facilities.

During the riot, those weightlifting facilities,

those metal bars, were used to smash down

20 years ago I made a documentary about the Victorian

In 1997 inmates used bed sheets and toilet paper to pass secret

"I've got your trusted half ounce here."

Today inmates are using drones and mobile phones.

Tonight G4S praised staff bravery during the riots and denied that

large numbers of people are going off sick.

Post 16th December there was a rise in sickness and

that is coming back down to the levels before that

and in terms of staff leaving, we have had some

staff who have left the business, but not just in...

What is important to recognise is that at Birmingham over

two thirds of our staffing group are still the same staff

An official report into the riot at Birmingham prison is

expected to be delivered to the government next week.

A couple who murdered their flatmate for their own perverted pleasure

are tonight beginning a minimum jail sentence of 26 years each.

Bethany Hill was discovered in a flat in Stratford

upon Avon last year, her throat had been slashed.

Sentencing Jack Williams and his transgender partner

Kayleigh Woods, the Judge concluded it was a sadistic killing.

Joan Cummins is at Warwick Crown Court where the three

Well, often the jury were shown some quite shocking evidence from the

murder of Bethany Hill last year at a very small flat in

Stratford-upon-Avon. They were shown the bathroom where her throat was

repeatedly cut. They were also shown a fetish doll which had had its

wrists bound and its mouth gagged. This is exactly the torture that

Bethany was put through by her killers, Jack Williams and Kayleigh

Woods. Bethany had had a very brief relationship with Jack Williams when

she was much younger and almost fatally she had introduced him to

her friend, Kayleigh Woods, who had been born a boy but was now living

as a woman and was in a relationship with Jack Williams. The judge said

that he couldn't rule out the possibility that both of these

defendants had killed Bethany for their own sadistic pleasure and

there could been a sexual behind it. What has Bethany 's family said?

They have maintained a very dignified appearance at court. Today

they should a statement, they ask for the media not to bother them

anymore. What they did say was that there were no words to describe the

pain that these two evil individuals had put them through. They said that

Bethany was a much loved daughter, she had a great future ahead of her

and they just couldn't explain how they felt knowing that she would

never grow up or grow old and they said to them she would always remain

a diamond in the sky. Thank you. A 25-year-old man has been arrested

on suspicion of murder after a fatal Leon Barrett-Hazle was travelling

on the top deck of the Number 11A in Handsworth on Monday evening

when he was attacked. The arrested man surrendered himself

earlier this afternoon. The Conservative Party have

chosen their candidate for the Stoke Central by-election

on February 23rd. Labour are expected to announce

their candidate later tonight. Councillor Jack Brereton,

who is 25, will stand The seat became vacant

following the resignation of Labour's Tristram Hunt

earlier this month. West Midlands Ambulance Service has

become the first NHS Foundation Trust to be rated

outstanding by the Care Inspectors rated it the best

across all ten ambulance trusts in England, it's continually met

the required response It serves 26 NHS Trusts and responds

to around 3,000 999 calls a day. The son of a woman from Tamworth

who was killed in a terror attack in Tunisia last year has told

an inquest knowing she was with someone who made her happy

gave the family comfort. Suzanne Davey and her partner,

Scott Chalkley, were among 38 people killed in a grenade and gunfire

attack on the beach resort Is in as far as the fact that my mum

has been killed, to be honest, when it does reopen and we do come

in to these inquests it's sort of a surreal moment

when you are sitting in the court room and you are

thinking, is that real? For us it is nice that it can be put

to bed and we can sort of... Of course it is important,

it is our mum, but is it Probably not

because in our lives In the last 18 months 850 assaults

were reported on police officers across Worcestershire,

Herefordshire and Shropshire. Now a new initiative has been

launched to try and reduce The area's Police and Crime

Commissioner says the new schemed, called Behind the Badge,

is aimed at changing For many officers, dealing

with the threat of violence And attacks don't just happen

in our inner cities. PC Sherry Clifford was just five

weeks out of training when she was kicked in the face

outside a club in Evesham. The pain was excruciating,

it knocked me back and knocked me out for a few seconds and then

it was more, I have to get back up I had a full-on kick to the face,

I lost a tooth and a large fracture down the side,

had a massively swollen face The new campaign aims to highlight

the impact of violence on those People forget that I'm

going home to my family, my partner and I don't want to go

home black and blue. People just see the uniform now

and they have stopped seeing us. We are a very large rural force,

we have police officers out there, sometimes back-up can be a long way

away, I want to make sure In 2016 the force introduced body

cameras which have been shown to reduce attacks in other parts

of the country. And from day one officers receive

this sort of training. National figures show that there's

an attack on a police officer every 22 minutes

and here in the West Mercia area over an 18 month period

there were 850 assaults. But however well trained,

not everyone trusts the police Officers have suffered

a variety of injuries, teeth being knocked

out, broken bones. It can be extremely traumatic

and officers then have to live with the injuries they may have

suffered during a shift. The hope is the number of those

injuries can be reduced. A homeless hostel which was opened

as a two month trial a year ago in Stoke is still taking in rough

sleepers, thanks to a former New figures show the number

of rough sleepers Former footballer Lou Macari helped

set up the hostel in the Potteries. He continued campaigning

to keep it going by setting Birmingham and the Black Country

has the largest Sikh Now they're being asked

to share their stories of migration. The project is being led

by the Nishkam Civic Association. It's looking to create a collective

picture of what happened, That generation is getting older

and as they are passing, they're taking those stories

with them so unless they have actually told you something

personally, you won't know who these people were and what they

contributed to the region. Are we in for more frost

tomorrow morning? Yes, it is getting very chilly out

there. We had some cloud and a fog today but it was quite pleasant end

to the day. The cloud is coming from the east and bringing in colder air

so it will be a cold night tonight. Already our temperatures falling

away and we will see a widespread frost. Anything that falls from the

sky could fall as a flake of snow but temperatures dipped to about

minus two. The chilly start the day tomorrow with high pressure in

charge but we are drawing in the cold air from Monier confident so it

will be a cold and raw feeling day. The limited brightness. A cloudy day

and it could be thick enough to squeeze out some snow. Right to buy

the end of the day across the South Midlands but it will be cloudy and

grey. These are the actual temperatures but it will feel more

like minus five. A very cold day on the way. On Friday the added

complication of rain and that means the colder services could have a

risk of ice. More information on all of that in the National forecast

next. This is the outlook. showers. A little less cold. Let's

take a look at the Outlook towards the weekend.

Good evening. If you think it was cold today, for many it will be

colder still tomorrow. Cold even when we have the sunshine today.

This was one of the wonderful weather watcher pictures we had sent

in from Cornwall. It contrasts with a cloudy and foggy eastern half of

the country, and a bank of cloud. Still foggy, but it is starting to

lift. It is being pushed north and west, this bank of cloud. That will

continue through the night. We will still have some fog sitting on the

hills. Even with the cloud, it will be a cold night, with temperatures

away from the far north and west falling to freezing. In the

countryside, well below freezing. And on the wind and it will feel

better, it already feels better. Giving us some freezing drizzle and

snow as well. Although the fog will not be as extensive as